After the End
by Celeste Bloodrayne
Summary: The End had come and gone, a whole world had changed. As the new era dawns, so do ripples of unrest, harbingers of darker things to come. But do those waves of darkness arise from rebirth... or from slumbering nightmares?
1. Part 1: Prologue: North

**Disclaimer:** we all know I don't own anything from FF7. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo.All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud ...:-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

_Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too. Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!_

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**Part 1: Prologue -North**

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Lucrecia had been avenged. 

His goal reached, he had nothing else to do, nothing else left to him . The day they had made of him an ageless monster, they had also taken away from him his life.

Now, he was purposeless, with no ties, no home, no one to go back to. When Meteor was destroyed, while the others rejoiced, Vincent Valentine had quietly gone away, slipping in familiar shadows. All he had done for a while was to wander around the world, seeing the way it had changed in the span of thirty years.

Monsters still roamed the countryside, so gil was not a problem. The Death Penalty was as much in use as it had been in the days of Avalanche.

And as time passed by, Vincent became a monster hunter, killing those which were threatening human habitations or that just had the misfortune of crossing his path.

He occasionally saved stranded travellers, but his contact with people in general was all but non-existent. Some might have argued that he might as well have gone back to his coffin. The ex-Turk would have once agreed with them, but something was stopping him from going back to oblivion.

And that something was telling him to go north, always and further north, whispering that he was still needed there…

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**Author's Notes:**

7th December, 2006

Hello. First of all, if you're expecting lemons in here, be prepared to be disappointed. I don't do lemons, and that's the bottom line of it. What you can expect is action, introspection, hell, even drabble. Comedy is not my forte but I shall strive to make some.

'After the End' is to date my greatest writing project. It is to span the whole of the FF7 timeline and might even go back before 'Before Crisis' (BC) or well beyond 'Dirge of Cerberus' (DoC). I have segmented the story in four distinct parts:

**Part One** will follow (mostly) the 'Advent Children' (AC) storyline and will attempt to answer some of the questions most of us have been asking ourselves when we saw the movie (Like: What the HECK is she talking about? And how did he get there? O.o) Another of my goals is to link it ultimately to the alternate universe of 'Kingdom Hearts' (KH). It IS NOT a crossover; I will just integrate themes used in it to this part of the fanfic. As wont by AC and KH, the story will mainly revolve around Cloud and his little family. However, Vincent will also be protrayed here (think of it as a supporting role), being given that he will figure prominently later on in the fanfic. Ultimately, there might be some changes when 'Advent Children Complete' (ACC) comes out, but the author sincery thinks that nothing much should be affected by the new scenes revealed in ACC.

**Part Two** will cover events happening about three years after Meteor; the basis will be DoC and the central protagonist Vincent Valentine. Happy? ;-)

**Part Three** is more or less my speculation of what will happen after DoC; being given that sources fromSquare-Enix (Sq-E) have stated that DoC will be the last installment timeline-wise, speculation is the only thing open to me. I will draw my sources from 'Crisis Core' which has yet to be released in the U.S. (come on, you know what that is ;-) and some other obscure official sources... like the lesser-known ff7 official short stories, which I regularly use throughout Part One.

And what is the last part? It's the **Past Imperfect. **Think of it as a series of bonus short stories that I will release throughout the fanfic and which will focus about one character in particular.

Far from me to claim to be doing a 'serious' fanfic, but I do try to keep as close to official published material as far as possible. Those of you who are obsessed as I am and who've scoured the Web to find each and every parcel of information, please notify me privately if you see a logic flaw somewhere or something that I missed out on, with supporting arguments. I try, but it's not easy when you've got to juggle studies and everything else with keeping up with the ff7 story. Arigato gomezainasu!

If you like fanart, wallpapers, e-cards and fan mangas, please visit my otaku portfolio; the link is on my profile page and you will see artwork that I have produced exclusively for this fanfic... I mainly use Photoshop (thank the fashion industry for requiring training designers to explore and use it)

'After the End' is not really here to entertain. It's not a novelization either. It's not a fantasy of a fantasy world. It's a construction on the ff7 saga, and I have poured my knowledge and heart and feelings in it. Please read it with your heart too, for sometimes, some things cannot be said; then, it is up to our hearts to understand what language cannot convey. Even then, you might understand something else entirely. It will please me very much to know how it made you feel, so feel free to leave a review or a message.

Sincerely yours,

Celeste Bloodrayne


	2. Part 1: Yuki to Chi

**Disclaimer:** we all know I don't own anything from FF7. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo.All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud... :-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

_Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too. Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!_

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**Part 1: Yuki to Chi

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North, where everything had started, and where everything had seemingly ended.

Pure white snow swirled about him, while the freezing wind blew his messy hair every which way. The Northern Crater lay just before him, shrouded, apparently inaccessible, a landmark that gave the impression that no one had trespassed upon its virgin snows for untold millennia…

Well, just as with most first impressions, that was not completely the truth. In fact, the Crater had been an abandoned area until recently, when AVALANCHE had come round to confront Sephiroth and put an end to his evil, and now him… and the helicopter hovering right ahead.

The Turks.

Vincent frowned. What were they doing here? What were they trying to do? If he remembered right, Shin-Ra had fallen, now that it was leaderless. So what was their business here?

So many questions rose in Vincent's mind, most of them finding no viable answers, except for two very interesting –and worrying- possibilities: Sephiroth… or JENOVA.

Just then, the helicopter started its decent in the heart of the Crater. The same instinct that had been pushing him on now urged him to go there, as quickly as possible, and Vincent ran up the snow-covered slope without asking himself why he was feeling such urgency.

He was already half-way up when he heard faint but distinct gunshots.

The voice in his head was screaming out in pure horror now, giving Vincent the distinct feeling that something terrible had just happened, apart from the obvious fact that some fighting was going on. Vincent briefly frowned, wondering where those impressions were coming from… _to whom they belonged to._ But not right now. Right now, there was something that he had to stop, a terrible thing that was not supposed to happen.

He jumped up to a rocky ledge, Cerberus at the ready, almost at the very top of the crater and was about to jump in and intervene when he heard voices crying out.

More gunshots, followed by a heavy silence. A faint motor noise could be heard, and Vincent hid himself behind an outcropping.

And then, the copter just rose from the Crater gracefully and presented its flank clearly to Vincent for a second before it went away in the mists surrounding the area. The Shin-Ra logo. So it _was _the Turks.

"Hnm"

Vincent followed its progression until it was entirely out of sight, then he jumped into the dark hole that was the Crater, flipping, bouncing and jumping from one narrow crumbling ledge to another, swiftly and silently.

He was a dark shadow moving among shadows, his pale face and dull gold armour pieces the only indications of his presence. His crimson cape, now tattered at the edges, flew out behind him, softly flapping with the rush of air as he descended further and further in the bowels of the site of JENOVA's arrival... almost like a pair of some kind of demonic wings.

Demon. That was probably what his real nature was. Vincent Valentine had long ago abandoned any illusion of still being a man. He had seen too much, sinned too much. But that is a story for another time.

Right now, he had to hide. His keen hearing had picked up the sound of people talking, and the conversation did not appear to be pleasant.

A handy outcropping –in fact, the only one near enough to the scene to be of any use- lent him the refuge he was seeking, and he crouched down in the darkness to eavesdrop.

"…_eavesdropping, listening to a conversation not meant for my ears.. it seems that 'once a Turk, always a Turk' is true then, Veld…" _

The piercing scream from a woman tore the air, followed by the deep voice of a man, jolted Vincent from his musings and he concentrated on the scene unfolding beneath him. Familiar voices. Tseng? Elena?

And a couple more, that he could not identify, male, one of them sounding quite young. The voices rose, followed by more screaming.

And then, everything clicked in Vincent's mind. The Turks were being tortured by the unknown men!

They seemed to want some kind of information from the Turks, but the latter seemed to be incapable of or unwilling to cooperate. By experience, Vincent knew that this was not going to work. His brow furrowed. Members of the Turks, or more officially, of the Investigation Division of the General Affairs Department, were trained to withstand interrogation sessions; the pain was nothing compared to the value of keeping the secrets of Shin-Ra safe. That rule went beyond professional pride; it was the reason of their very existence within the company.

But he could not go and save them. Not quite yet. The interrogators, in their excitement and frustration were letting drop some very interesting and crucial pieces of information. In a rather random way, true, but the more he listened, the more he understood.

The implications of what he was hearing were devastating… Vincent's mind whirled as he compiled all that he had gleaned. He was once again awoken from his thoughts by the sudden declaration of the young torturer's voice.

He was going to end it. Time to act then.

Taking the Cerberus from its holster, Vincent jumped from his hiding place, firing shots at the men holding the Turks captive. The three men yelled, momentarily taken by surprise by this crimson wraith appearing from nowhere.

Vincent softly landed next to the prostrate forms of the two Turks and silently sent thanks that there were only two of them. Sliding Cerberus back in its holster and lifting the unmoving bodies, he jumped up from whence he came, all in one swift motion, as his unknown opponents started to retaliate with firearms.

Vincent flew through the air, a blur of crimson, indistinguishable in form, higher and higher up. His three enemies were pursuing him, but they were just a bit too slow, a bit too late.

Soon, he was a safe distance away from them, the two forms in his arms barely breathing. Where to now?

And the voice whispered :

_...Ajit..._

Vincent headed south.

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**Author's Notes:**

'Yuki to Chi' means Snow and Blood. The previous title for this chapter was 'North' but I think that this is more appropriate.


	3. Part 1: Planet Scars sent by Heaven

**Disclaimer:** we all know I don't own anything from FF7. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo. All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud... :-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

_Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too! Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!_

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**Part 1: Planet Scars sent by Heaven**

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As carefully as he did everything else, Vincent lay down the unconscious man's body and his weapon on the soft grass and checked for a pulse. It was there, faint, but gradually picking up in strength: he would soon wake up. His wounds were only superficial ones and were already showing signs of healing; the only sequels he would bear from his battle would be a rather sore body. As for the thing that had knocked him down… Vincent guessed that he could not do much about that.

Satisfied with the younger man's state, Vincent left him to lay there near the water's edge and retreated to the back of the small moonlit clearing, leaning his own tired body against the trunk of an eerily glowing tree. He too had sustained minor wounds, but the… modifications… that had been thrust on his body allowed him to heal faster than most and he trusted that by the time Cloud Strife would open his eyes, he would be completely healed.

Time ticked by silently in the stillness of the forest surrounding the Forgotten Capital. Vincent was deep in thoughts, and he briefly closed his eyes to consider all of the possibilities that this encounter and unexpected save portended. Cloud, here, of all places. He did not think that the young man would have been able to come this far anytime soon, here where tragedy had struck their little ragtag band.

Vincent opened his eyes and looked to the stars shining in the slightly overcast night sky. Thanks to Tifa, he had known where Strife was headed; however, this was the second time that the young man had almost lost to the men who he knew to be on a quest to find JENOVA. That was disturbing, to say the least. Vincent had not expected to have to come to his aid. Maybe he should let his questions remain unanswered for the moment and get back to shadowing the brothers...

Tseng and Elena had not been much of a source of information, but he had not expected that from them. He had provided the care that they needed until they had been strong enough to leave. The two Turks had quietly expressed their thanks to the man who had once been one of their own, and gone on to Bone Village.

"..._We owe you one, Valentine.."_

And that had been more than one year ago.

The initial worry that the men had aroused upon inadvertedly divulging their goal to him at the Crater had put him on his guard. He had gone back to look for them. He had caught up with them later on and shadowed them until, ironically, they had come to the Forgotten Capital and stayed there. Vincent counted on those three to bring him to the surviving pieces of JENOVA, checking on them from time to time so as to minimize the risk of being discovered; he counted on their nature for that…whatever it was; for they were not human… as alien as JENOVA. But up to now, he had found nothing...

Closing his eyes at the stars, Vincent took a deep breath. From the battles he had fought with AVALANCHE, he knew JENOVA's cells to be nearly indestructible, able to regenerate at an alarming rate and multiply, given the appropriate conditions. But he did know that he would not stand by once again and let the world be endangered again. The last disaster had been his fault… if he had not been so weak, if he had been more clairvoyant, none of this would have happened. Thousands would still be alive. And Lucrecia…

…_I am so sorry…_

Vincent started violently, chilled to the bone. Her voice…? Impossible. Vincent felt his accelerated heartbeat calm down as he considered the situation. Lucrecia had disappeared from the cave she had cloistered herself in when he had gone back there. Could it be…?

Hand lightly resting on Cerberus, he looked cautiously in the faint shadows surrounding the clearing, trying to discern the slightest movement, the faintest clue of another presence apart from his and Cloud's. No one.

Vincent leaned back into the tree, bewildered. He was sure it had been her. Even after all these years, he had not forgotten her voice, its liveliness, the slight catch whenever she laughed. Did that mean that she was the love of his life? He had never been sure of that, but he did know that he had strong feelings for her. Maybe he had just never been the one for her.

But her voice… it had been so real. Could it be his mind was deceiving him? The gunman's features darkened at the thought. After all, he did not know what exactly they had done to him; was he to become mad, like those poor souls Hojo had experimented on and that they had had to eliminate around Nibelheim? Closing his eyes, he silently considered the implications of such a state.

The immobile form on the grass shifted slightly and groaned. And then, with a jerk, he shot up, his arm automatically reaching for the enormous sword lying at his side.

"Where?"

His blond hair appearing almost silver in the pale moonlight, Cloud half-lifted himself into a fighting stance before he spotted his silent comrade-in-arms some distance behind him.

"Vincent?"

The gunman did not reply, looking for all the world as if he was in a deep sleep, leaning against that tree trunk. Cloud mentally sighed.

'…_Typical…and people say _I'm _antisocial…'_

It did not take much to figure out that Vincent was not going to pour forth information of his own volition. Some things just never changed.

"Where are Kadaj and the others I was fighting? Where are the children?"

With a pained sigh, Cloud let go of Tsurugi and slid down on the grass again.

"Damn!"

He clutched his left arm. Weak, he was weak. Pathetic. His arm was still hurting from the attack he had back there, when he had been in the middle of the battle with Kadaj, the mysterious leader of the three men. What good was he? Cloud bitterly muttered to himself more than anyone else, rubbing his throbbing arm.

"I really can't save anyone." _I'm a failure…_

When he looked up briefly, still massaging his arm, his voice was sharp, too sharp, betraying his irritation with the silent gunman, with himself, with his weakness.

"Vincent. What's going on?"

Silence.

"I often come here."

Vincent looked up, opening his eyes and in a sudden move, flung his cape aside in a dramatic gesture.

"I have been keeping an eye on 'Kadaj and the others'."

Vincent advanced whilst saying those words, until he was near Cloud. Suddenly, he bent down and grasped tightly the arm that the young man was still rubbing, hard.

Cloud flinched and suppressed a hiss of pain as Vincent watched him, impassive.

'_He knows...'_

Cloud did not doubt for a moment that the ex-Turk had seen the scars, and put two and two together; his illness was common these days. It had appeared two years ago, and many had died of it in the first terrible days after the destruction of Meteor. The non-afflicted had shunned those who had it; it had been thought to be contagious. Maybe it was. Cloud had no definite idea. But he did know that those who contracted it rarely lasted more than a few months.

The first bruises had appeared twenty-seven days ago… and now, his whole arm was covered in bruises and scars. The attacks were coming more and more frequently these days; black blood-like liquid frequently ran from the wounds and sores…. like Denzel's.

There was no cure for that. All he could do was bind his wounds and cover his scars and wait until the end came. Tifa and Marlene still held the hope that Denzel would recover, but Cloud knew, deep down, that you just don't 'get better' once you've contracted it. It was an accepted fact, everywhere, that the ones afflicted were goners.

Maybe Shin-Ra could have had a cure. Hell, maybe it had come from their wretched labs. But Shin-Ra was no more, and no one knew what it was, what made it appear, what could stop its spread. The wildest theories had run around, but ultimately none of them had been plausible. Cloud knew that the World Restoration Organisation founded by Reeve was looking for the answer that people desperately needed. But up to now, there have been no major discoveries made, and the scientists and meds were as puzzled as on the first day it had appeared, baffled that this was a world-wide epidemic and not a localized one... What could be spreading it? What could be causing it?

And then, as if he had read his thoughts, Vincent calmly stated:

"The Geostigma is caused by an over-reaction of the immune system."

He let go of the arm and moved to the other side, behind Cloud and continued his explanation.

"There's also a stream like the Lifestream within the human body. And basically, it fights the alien substances that penetrates the body."

Vincent turned around to face a thoughtful Cloud. A sudden chill ran through the young man at those revelations. Vincent was one of the most erudite of the group; he had little reason to doubt the veracity of his statements. Cloud breathed out in sudden realization:

"Alien substances…"

Vincent went on, confirming Cloud's doubts.

"Sephiroth's components… JENOVA's genetic thoughts…call it whatever you want."

"You know a lot".

"Tseng and Elena. They were gravely injured when I brought them here. They had apparently gone through intense torture. I saved them. But…hmm…who knows".

"Torture?"

"It's the result of their actions. It seems that they have retrieved JENOVA's head."

'…_JENOVA's head…'Mother'…it can't be. No. Not again.'_ The blond leader of AVALANCHE's head reeled. He could not quite accept that JENOVA was back to poison their lives. Sephiroth was dead, JENOVA destroyed. He had seen to it. But if her head had been found…he had to know.

"Is the 'Mother' that Kadaj is looking for…"

He could not finish his sentence; he could not believe that the nightmare was beginning anew. Vincent heard his reluctance to say those words aloud. He did not blame him; however, indecision had no place in the present circumstances.

"An unpleasant thing sent by Heaven. JENOVA. If you wanted to, it's possible to eventually recreate Sephiroth."

Just as he had feared…Cloud's head lowered, trying to absorb all that this entailed.

"Kadaj…who is he?"

"Hmm. I don't even want to think about it."

Vincent's response made the feeling of dread rise higher in him. So Kadaj was-

The silence that had permeated the clearing was suddenly interrupted by the sound of something crashing through the bushes. Both men turned around towards the source of the noise, Cloud jumping to his feet with Tsurugi at the ready.

'_Too noisy'_

Vincent did not draw out Cerberus; whoever was approaching was fleeing something, not attacking. He had ample time to observe the modus operandi of the three men and he did not think that they would have made such a racket if they had been coming over. And they would definitely have been in full view by now, thanks to their height. So whoever or whatever was coming was small.

A child? Kadaj had subjugated them all. Except for the girl that had clung to the man, Loz. Could it be her? Maybe she had escaped them, but how had she found them? By following their voices? Improbable.

But he also knew that there were no animals in this forest.

The sounds were drawing closer. Vincent laid a light hand over Cerberus.

"_Show yourself…whoever you might be."_


	4. Part 1: Through the eyes of a child

**Disclaimer**: we all know I don't own anything from FF7. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo.All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud ...:-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

_Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too. Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!_

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Part 1: Through the eyes of a child.

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The trees scared her.

She had seen trees before, although there were quite few of them left nowadays. But those trees were different; they belonged to the Forest surrounding ruins of the city of an extinct people called Cetra.

The ruins themselves were quite a sight to behold; curving and sloping in strange ways, the architecture was totally unlike anything that was being built nowadays. Instead of ugly, grey and ungraceful towers that clawed their way up into the sky in a bid to do more with less, the Cetra had preferred to build sprawling, pale, shell-like structures; beautiful works of art lovingly crafted to house love, life, peace and happiness.

Seemingly delicate in their whimsical fairness, yet resistant enough to survive their builders, they were ruins in name only, for the buildings seemed to be quietly awaiting the return of their original owners from their thousand-odd years of slumber; waiting the return of the child who had dropped his toy on the stairs, or that of the newly-married groom and his blushing bride, patiently expecting to hear the sound of the elders' conversations under the shade of the trees again. Patiently awaiting in the heart of a sleeping forest…

The Cetra had died out, but their legend had not. They were rumoured to have been powerful wielders of magic, capable of hearing warnings from beyond the grave, able to listen to the Lifestream and more importantly, they were whispered to have been the possessors of the most valuable secret in the entire world; the exact location of the place called the Promised Land. The place of abundance, where one would want for nothing…

There were countless stories and speculation circulating about its probable location, but the Cetra had taken their secret with them. In vain attempts to find that lost land, numerous expeditions had been made in the most far-off places in the world; it had driven some men to their ruin and had been instrumental in the near-annihilation of the world. It was still one of the favourite subjects of many a winter's nights at the fireplace, when tired men dreamed of riches and power, and children of adventure and magic.

Those tales- as many tales- were now half myths, half fictions, with variations from village to village, each community having its own version of what it was like and where it was. Those tales might have once upon a time been truthful, but with the passing of years, as the original tellers passed away and new ones took their place, details and events had been changed, added, or simply forgotten, like the blurred lines of a sketch drawn by too many artists.

Paradoxically, the Cetra would have disappeared entirely from the surface of the planet and the memory of Man if not for those tales; everyone agrees that the extinct civilisation was the key to the land of abundance, and as such had to be included in the legend. What a fickle race, Man; blithely forgetting about the ones who had given up everything to save them from the greatest calamity, forgetting everything except for the tales that shimmered with the fantasy of a life of material contentment.

Marlene Wallace had heard some of the tales from customers in Tifa's bar, or from other children from the streets. She knew that there were quite strange places in the world from what she had gathered from Cloud's description of the far-off places he went to on jobs, but he had never told her about this place. So she had assumed that it was just a legend…a made-up fairy tale that everyone liked to talk about...

However, now that she was here, in the middle of the Forest she had often written off as pure fantasy, all that she had ever heard about the Forest and its inhabitants came rushing back to her…the whispers of it being magic...

Seemingly reaching up into space itself, no trees she had ever seen had achieved that height. She wondered if she would be daring enough to climb one, and what it would feel like to be up there, so high above everything else. So high among the upper branches of a Forest that glowed a translucent, milky white…

Even the lights at the bar did not give off as much illumination as the trees seemed to emit. Was it possible for trees to give light? The little girl did not think that they should be. Did that mean they were magic then? Was everything true then? Was this real? Or was she simply dreaming?

Tentatively, she placed her hand on one of the white barks, just to see what it felt like...

"WOW!"

She snatched her hand away in surprise and fright almost instantly: it was like ice, hard and-

"Cold, are they not?"

Marlene practically jumped out of her skin; she had not heard that man coming. Gravely, she nodded and looked at him closely.

Like the others who had brought her here, he wore a close-fitting black leather outfit. He did look a bit like them, with his shoulder-length silver hair and strange green eyes. She couldn't really say, but he looked younger than them, too. Younger, and with something different lurking in the depths of his green eyes… a strange light that she had not seen in the eyes of the two men who had brought her here.

However he had no gun, just a sword unlike any other she had ever seen. Being given that it was strapped on his back, she could just make out the tip of its handle by his shoulder and its end, but she could see that it was thin… and had two blades! Cloud did possess a collection of swords, but she did not recall any in it that resembled that one.

"They are not ordinary trees, you know." He looked down at Marlene and his mouth twisted in a parody of a grin; a strangely predatory one that bordered on madness, clashing with his youthful features.

"They're old. They're _magic._" He giggled, and continued in a rather breathless, excited voice, advancing towards a retreating Marlene, until her back was up against one of those trees.

" They listen to us and understand us. And sometimes, _they talk back to us._ Can you hear them?"

Marlene cringed as the man laughed out shrilly and spun around, twirling a bit like a puppet on a string before turning back to face the scared little girl, still grinning. His brothers looked over at the sound of his voice; the one called Yazoo just smirked with an amused, unconcerned air, letting his long straight silver hair fall back from his face.

"Of course you can't hear them…ha ha! You're not one of _us_, you're not of our family!"

The youngest man extended his arm theatrically, embracing in his gesture the other two men… and the children that the men had left on the opposite side of the river.

Some of them seemed to have come from quite far away but Marlene recognized many of them; orphans from the streets of Edge who often came to Tifa's bar to get something to eat for free; kids that she had played with once in a while until about three months ago, when Cloud had come back to Seventh Heaven with that sick boy in his arms. Then, she had abandonned her friends to watch over him...

"_Marlene? What is she doing here?"_

The young boy named Denzel looked at the auburn-haired girl on the other side of the river. She was wearing the same white knitted turtleneck and pink skirt that she had worn when he had last seen her. Oh, and the big pink ribbon in her hair, as usual.

Her gaze swept over him without seeing him at all, before finally resting on the man before her. No wonder, really, that she hadn't picked him out. There was quite a crowd here, and most of the children were as drably dressed as he was. They had all come here for a cure for the Geostigma that was killing them, as that man Yazoo had promised when he had come to pick them up.

But Marlene was not sick, what was she here for? And where was Tifa?

Denzel's brow creased with a puzzled frown; Tifa would never have allowed her to come here all by herself. Well, Tifa would not have allowed either of them to come here with these strange men- but he had to find a cure. He fought everyday, hard, with Marlene and Tifa and sometimes Cloud by his side; but deep inside, he knew that he was losing his battle, and that pained him. Marlene and Tifa could smile and say he would get better, he just knew he was dying, like all the others he had seen die of it. He had to find a way to get better so he could repay them for their kindness. Now that he had Cloud, Tifa and Marlene, he did not want to die; he had a new family to live for.

The young boy had no idea what Marlene was doing here, but he'd stay and wait and hope those men really had a solution for them. He'd ask Marlene later on how come she was with them…

Right now, his headache had gotten worse and he felt a bit dizzy. Whenever he felt as weak as he was right now, Tifa would send him to bed with strict instructions to stay there; Marlene would then stay by his side to look after him; however, Denzel also had an inkling that the two had come to that arrangement to make sure that he would not go out.

That was one aspect of his new life that bothered him; Denzel had survived in the streets of the ruined Midgar for a whole year before Cloud had found him and brought him to Tifa. He had been something of a leader of a group of other orphans and their job had been to find all the pieces of metal or other what-nots amidst the ruins to be used in the construction of Edge. He had lived a life of relative independence, and he could say that he had been doing ok. Until he had fallen ill and everyone deserted him. Until Cloud found him and brought him to Edge, and Tifa's bar.

That day he was told there was a cure for the Geostigma had not been one of his better days. His attacks had come a bit more frequently lately, and the bruises on his forehead had been becoming clearer and bigger. And they hurt like hell too. So he has been bed bound for about a week before Tifa decided to go and look for Cloud. Exceptionnally, Marlene too had wanted to tag along and Tifa had not objected; the young woman had looked preoccupied to Denzel, but then, Tifa had been kind of quiet since Cloud's departure. However, that had not stopped her from telling him to stay at home...

So they had left him alone upstairs and gone to the church where Cloud had found him and where he was rumoured to be staying now.

However Denzel had other plans; he too wanted to see Cloud, and he would be damned if he was going to be left behind. The boy had waited a full dozen of minutes before rising from the bed. Just to be on the safe side...

He had made his bed a bit clumsily and gone down the stairs. _That _had been the hard part; his head has seemed about to explode, and he had been pretty sure at around half-way down that he was not gonna make it. But the prospect of seeing Cloud had kept him going, and he had arrived at the end safe and sound. But damn, that had taken him longer than he had expected and it must have been a full half- hour since the girls had gone... Maybe they were even now on their way back.

Denzel had winced at that thought... if Tifa found him here, he would be in for it. She was a great person, and he cared a lot about her, but sometimes, she could be a bit much. She kinda reminded him of his mum in that way...

_'No!'_

He was not going to dwell on those sad thoughts; he had a mission to accomplish and that was going to see Cloud. Suddenly, he chuckled... maybe the two girls had managed to bring Cloud back with them...

Scrap that- Cloud was coming back; he was going to be cornered, pushed and bullied by the most headstrong girls in the entire city!

With that thought in mind, Denzel went out and sat on the steps near the bar, awaiting their return. He could just imagine their faces when they would see him outside, doing alright. He daydreamed of the happy days that would come back, but as time passed and as he saw all the other children out in the streets, homeless, he started to remember darker times.

He had waited for a return that had never happened. And then, that girl had come...

A sudden commotion pulled Denzel from his reverie. He did not really know what had happened, but the man named Loz was now holding Marlene's shoulder. From where he was, he could not make out her expression.

'_What has happened?'_

* * *

Note: sorry for the rather long wait... my exams ended last Friday and I have been busy packing up. Yes, I'm on holidays and going to Mauritius! Sea, sand... and SUN:-) 


	5. Part 1: Dark Baptism

**Disclaimer**: we all know I don't own anything from FF7. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo. All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud ...:-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

_Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too. Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!_

* * *

**Part 1: Dark Baptism**

* * *

He frightened her. Kadaj was so unlike anyone else she had ever met. This, her instincts told her, was not a person to be trusted. They had kidnapped her for a reason.

She had to find a way to escape them.

But it was not easy. It seemed that they knew what she was thinking and the little girl was thereafter closely guarded by the one called Loz. She could just watch as Kadaj did his little brainwashing on the children. And as they came forward, she saw Denzel among them. What was he doing here? How had the men gotten hold of him? He was not really going to drink that strange water, was he?

"Denzel!"

The boy looked unsure for a moment and stood poised with the water cupped in his hands as he looked around him; he had heard Marlene calling out his name, but that would not stop him. It simply hardened his resolve to be cured. He drank.

"Denzel!"

Marlene could not believe it! Denzel had drunk that odious water! That Kadaj man had done something to it, and now, all the children were acting strange… like zombies! Marlene broke free from Loz's hold on her and ran to Denzel. But however she called out his name or shook him, there was no breaking that strange spell that had taken hold of her friend.

Marlene felt like crying, but that would not help them, would it? She had to find a way to get them both out of here…

"Hey, Kadaj, someone's coming"

Yazoo looked over at Kadaj as the latter grinned.

"It seems that our big brother is coming to pay us a visit. How nice. Let's organize a welcoming committee for him!"

Silently, the children climbed up the trees, to lie there in wait of their 'elder brother'.

Marlene squeezed Denzel's arm as he moved to the nearest tree, wordless, with frighteningly changed, empty eyes. A single anguished cry burst in her heart as she followed him up to make sure he didn't hurt himself... or did anything stupid.

_'Oh, Denzel!'_

------------------------

"Cloud!"

Marlene's cry ripped through the silent night, stilling Kadaj's hand as he was about to strike the blond warrior down. That moment was all that Cloud needed to grab Tsurugi and get a chance to fight back.

_..Run!..._

Marlene tried to pull Denzel with her, but he refused to move.

_...Leave him, he can't hear you now. He will be all right. Run! I will take you to a safe place..._

Marlene nodded and ran. She was guided by that voice, away from the scene of the battle. Somehow, she trusted it; she had faith that she would meet someone soon, someone who would help her get back to Edge and to Tifa.

She ran.

* * *

Author's Notes: 

I'm sorry about the long wait. I've been away for a long time, and a lot of things, not all of them good, happened. My muse kinda deserted me in all of this, and 'After the End' kinda slipped away from my attention. Once again, my sincerest apologies.

This story is definitely not dead.

This chapter is a kind of transitionnal one... it fit nowhere in either the chapter preceding it, or the one coming after. I wanted to explain how Marlene found Cloud and Vincent when the brothers could not; i mean, the probability for a kid that size to find two hiding adults who know the terrain are really, really _slim._

I'll be changing the summary soon enough; Vincent is still the principal character, but I also want to explain and explore some other things/characters in this. I know i could do it in another series of short stories, but i like the flow. An unbroken chain of related event, like. No ' do-you-remember-what-i wrote-in that-other-story'. So we'll follow the AC storyline for some more but patience, my friends. ;-) Dirge of Cerberus should be hot on its heels and i _promise_ that there will be more Vincent!

Take care

Celeste


	6. Part 1: Petites vérités

**Disclaimer**: we all know I don't own anything from FF7. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo. All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud ...:-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

_Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too. Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!_

* * *

**Part 1: Petites vérités**

* * *

Vincent watched a pink and white blur throw itself in an astonished Cloud's arms. The latter let go of Tsurugi as he called out her name. Marlene? Had she really grown that much? Vincent had vague recollections of a small bundle of energy with enormous eyes; back then, he had not really paid much attention to the child beyond his initial surprise upon learning that she was loud-mouthed Barret's daughter. 

However, it seemed that she had overcome her shyness of the ex-SOLDIER by the way she now clung onto him- much like the way she had thrown herself in her father's arms when they had returned. And interestingly enough, Cloud's features softened at the girl's obvious distress, even trying to soothe her.

"Cloud! Denzel is… Tifa is…!"

"Tifa is fine"

His back still to the tree, Vincent observed the little scene before him. The young man had changed on that aspect. Once, they might have been thought to have almost the same temperament, except for Cloud's occasional and strange outbursts. Caring for little else apart from their respective goals… introverts… seen as being rather cold and aloof…

'_How strange life can be. Cloud assuming a father-figure role to Barret's daughter? Who would have thought that someone like him would ever do that? Or maybe it was to be expected; he is the kind of person to need someone to need him.'_

Marlene liked Cloud; after all, he was a member of their family. Kinda like a daddy. She had promised her father, her real one, that she would be a 'good kid' when he had left her in the care of Tifa and Cloud, but there were times when she could not really respect that promise. In such times, she could not help doubting Cloud just a little. Specially after the way he had gone, without saying where he was going and when he would be coming back.

Abandoning her, Denzel and Tifa.

Plus, it was because of him that they had gone to that church, to look for him and bring him home. And it was there that Loz had hurt Tifa. She had watched Tifa fight and get beat up, and that had been frightening; and the most frightening of all was when Tifa had passed out in the bed of flowers; as pretty as all of them, but deathlike in her stillness. Tifa had told her to run, but she had not been able to; Loz, had already grabbed her arm, taken the chest with the strange glowing balls called materia and dragged them out of the church, leaving Tifa behind. She had make sure that Tifa was OK; Cloud could only be trusted so much –after all, he had not told them that he was sick like Denzel, and that was _bad._

"I want to talk to Tifa!"

Cloud reached in his pocket for his phone, but did not find it. He had lost it! At the look of regret on Cloud's features, Marlene turned to Vincent. She didn't really know him, but she kinda remembered him vaguely as being one of their friends. He should have one… after all, every adult had to have one, no?

"Could I please use your phone?"

Vincent moved aside his cape briefly, regretfully revealing only Cerberus in its holster.

"I can't believe it!"

She was in the company of two grown men, and neither of them had a phone to spare! And just when she _needed_ to talk to Tifa and hear her say that everything was OK! That was not fair!

There was an embarrassed silence after the girl's outburst, the two men unsure of how to cope with her disappointment. But there were things to be done; the situation was critical, what with the missing children , the three brothers and JENOVA.

Under any other circumstances, Vincent would have agreed to Cloud's request. But he too had a mission: stop Kadaj's gang or at least find JENOVA before they did; time was of the essence and bringing Marlene back to Edge would take too much of that precious commodity. It seemed that Cloud was completely oblivious of that fact. Talk to Rufus? Whatever for? The ex-Turk could feel it; the answers lay in the hands of the trio; Rufus Shinra would only be a waste of time, his value as reliable informer to his former enemies not being much in Vincent's opinion because of his strange association with Kadaj. He was more than a bit puzzled at his former comrade's lack of judgement.

Moreover, this child was Cloud's responsibility and it seemed that it was high time he remembered his duties.

Marlene was fuming. She listened to the two men bicker and discuss about things completely out of subject with what she had requested. What were they, dumb? And the dumbest of the two could only be Cloud! He was wilfully thrusting her into the care of someone whose name she didn't even remember and who by the look of it, was not about to take her to Tifa.

Marlene's face screwed up. Unbelievable! Tifa had never been like that with her, treating her like a burden that no one wanted to handle. And hurt the most was that it was _Cloud_ who was treating her like that.

How could he have changed so much? Maybe that was why Tifa had had these loud 'conversations' with him some weeks ago. She could feel tears prickling at her eyes, welling up, but she would not let them fall. She was almost a grown up, she took care of stuff at the bar and also helped take care of Denzel. Babies cried. Not little girls of six! She bet Tifa had stopped crying at that age.

Fine! That was IT!

"I don't like you anymore Cloud!"

She stepped back from him. There. She had said it, but it did not hurt any less. And the funny look on Cloud's face did not help either. She was suddenly reminded of all the things that Tifa and herself had said to him, but they might as well have talked to thin air, or tried to make a Chocobo fly for all the good it had done. Her voice came out a bit shrill, full of reproach, hurt and anger.

"Why don't you ever listen to what we have to say?"

"Huh…?"

How could someone be so clueless? Did he think she was just a stupid kid? Did he think she could not see all that had been happening at the bar, when Tifa and him had been arguing? Marlene ran and grasped Vincent's leg, prompting him to draw his cape over her. The huge, tattered red cloak all but hid her from view, except for her sneakers, those sneakers that Tifa and her had bought in a new shop at Edge the last time the bar hostess had had a free day. Thinking of Tifa calmed her down but also made her sad; she wanted to see her. She was so afraid that she would never see her again, like the flower girl.

Beneath the cover of the strange friend's cloak, Marlene waited for Cloud to come to his senses.

Her protector said something to Cloud and a conversation about things called 'sins' followed. Whatever they were, they looked complicated. Forgiveness? Were sins blunders? Had they done something wrong? Like the idiotic things that Denzel and her sometimes did?

She rolled her eyes. Adults were so complicated! If you did something wrong, you can say that you're sorry and promise not to do it again, right? What was difficult about that? From the looks of it, both were sorry for something, but neither had said they were sorry! How rude and totally incomprehensible! She much preferred Tifa; at least,_ she_ knew what was right and what to do. Not like those two here, heh.

'.._Boys..'_

Silence. Cloud seemed to think about something. His sins? Whatever it was, it must have made him realize that he was being a fool. The funny thing is that it made him look like he had not looked like in ages; he looked like the Cloud that she liked and trusted. He looked… less sad.

* * *

Author's Notes: 

I rather like Marlene. She says and does things that most of us would like to hurl at Cloud (plus hurling yourself at him, if you're a rabid fan girl) and her perceptions are those of a child, rather innocent and straightforward.

We know that she can hide the truth (see when Denzel asks her how his Geostigma seems to be) but that's probably because Tifa has explained why she should not tell. Cloud does not do that. He does not treat her as an equal. He just assumes she will comply to whatever he orders; something which really points out how much time he has spent with the kids. man, he needs to take that 'human relationships' 101 course, BAD.

In fact, I think Tifa was taking care of 3 kids in that house: precocious Marlene, sickly Denzel and immature Cloud. _/Hands her a medal and bows/_


	7. Part 1: Uncertain Heart

**Disclaimer:** we all know I don't own anything from FF7 or square-enix/soft. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo. All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud... :-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

_Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too! Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!_

* * *

**Part 1: Uncertain heart**

* * *

Vincent watched the two figures disappear in the Forest. Cloud making fun of him? Hmm. Maybe there was some hope after all. It seemed like he was finally coming out of his self-pitying stupor or whatever it was.

Vincent could understand Cloud's feelings; he had suffered much the same fate as he had, by being a test subject to Hojo's wicked little experiments and losing people precious to him, to have his life and identity robbed from him by people completely devoid of any moral standards.

He too had undergone the same process of rejection, of defeat, the need to isolate himself from normal people. He had let himself be closed in a coffin by Hojo for almost thirty years to hide from the world, to hide from the truth. He had wallowed in self-pity when he could have stopped a lot of tragedies from happening. This was another of his many sins for which he would repent for until his death and maybe beyond. But contrarily to the gunman, Cloud had had support from friends who cared deeply about him. Maybe, he reflected, 'caring' would be like understating a fact in the case of some people.

The fool was a lucky kid.

It was just up to him to see what he had and grasp his chance… before it was too late and all he had left were more regrets and more sins. However, Vincent could not force this on the young man. It would be totally useless. He had to arrive to that conclusion on his own.

But the little girl had touched on something vital. Without a phone, he was basically cut off from the world and unable to contact or be contacted by anyone in case of emergency. He would have to remedy that soon. Information was vital and now was not the time to go back to a coffin-like isolation.

But each thing in its own time.

The tall gunman turned and went off in another direction. The Kadaj group could be anywhere right now. Their search for JENOVA had intensified and they had splintered into separate groups earlier in the week when they had gone to Midgar. Vincent had watched two of the brothers pick a fight with Cloud from afar, but he had been unable to do anything without blowing his cover. Things had not looked so good for Cloud; during the battle, he had seemed distracted and had left numerous openings that the brothers had quickly turned to their advantage. The ex-SOLDIER had been lucky that the brothers had only wanted to play with him, to test him. When they left, leaving a puzzled Cloud behind, Loz and Yazoo had gone to Midgar and Kadaj had taken another route; Vincent had decided to follow Kadaj to Healin.

The young man intrigued him. His manner was juvenile, even childish at moments, but he was the leader of the little band. Why him and not one of the others? Loz was obviously the physically strongest of the three and Yazoo… well, Yazoo was pretty much a mystery, a quietly scornful one at that.

There was something about Kadaj… and Vincent had an inkling what it might be. But to turn that hunch into certainty, he had to have proof. And up to now, there had only been vague impressions, nothing definite. Even at Healin, Vincent was sure something had happened between Kadaj and the wheelchair-bound Rufus Shinra. But what had it been? Vincent had been too far back to see or hear what was happening in the lounge of the building. Whatever had happened had been vital, and for nth time since his awakening, Vincent regretted the little gadgets that Turks regularly used to 'monitor' their prey.

'_You once told me that a true Turk would never rely too much on gadgets; you also said that this was a rather 'old school' way of thinking. Nobody liked sophisticated gadgets more than you did, Veld. But you always made sure you had a plan B lined up just in case things went wrong…'_

For some reason, he found himself thinking more and more of his early days as a Turk, more specially his days as Veld's pupil and partner. And thinking of him brought back even more memories, most of them painful. There was no chronological order… sometimes he would see flashes of his childhood, then right after that, memories of his last days as a Turk, the rare moments he had spent with his father in his adolescence… Two years had passed he had emerged from his sleep, but his recollections were as fuzzy as ever… bits and pieces of his past were still an enigma to him. He had spent countless hours in quiet, frustrated contemplation trying to find them in the maze that had become his mind.

A chill hand had stilled his heart as the disquieting prospect that his case was somehow related to Cloud's dawned on him… What if his memories were not his own, but the fabrication of a mind in the grasp of JENOVA?

No!

No. That would be impossible. Unlike Cloud, he had not been 'called' by JENOVA… had he? The gunman stilled in his tracks as his mind racked up every impression that had led him up North where the Turks had battled for part of JENOVA. That voice… could it had been JENOVA? He knew that JENOVA had mimetic capabilities, but could it mimic the voice of someone in it's host's own mind? JENOVA could implant thoughts and memories directly in the brain of the host… why would it go to lengths such as imitating someone to make him do something?

Vincent had never heard Cloud say as much; he had never been very forthcoming about such an aspect of his possession by JENOVA and Sephiroth. That was understandable.

A worried frown darkened his features. Could this be a new form of its powers, a hidden weapon that had gone undetected? Vincent could not be sure that he had not been injected with JENOVA cells. His ability to transform into… other beings was still a mystery; a mystery that could very well be explained if scrutinized under the JENOVA light…

He had to speak to Strife. And so, he had stopped shadowing Kadaj to go to Edge in the hopes of finding an answer to his questions. But by the time he had tracked down Cloud's home, he arrived too late.

"Cloud has already gone" said Tifa, "to the Ajit. He had something to do there."

"What?"

"He has gone to save the children."

"Children?"

"Yes. All of the children who have been known to be infected with Geostigma have disappeared; they have apparently gone off with a silver-haired man dressed in black, didn't you know? Denzel is with them… and maybe Marlene too. Will you help them?"

"I need to ask Cloud some questions."

"You will help them then?"

"I am not here to help anyone. All I need are answers."

"Please, Vincent, help us. We have fought together in the past, and we are friends, are we not? Vincent, I have a bad feeling about this; the man whom I fought was very strong… right now, I don't know if Cloud is strong enough to handle him, let alone three of them, if it is as you told me."

But when she looked at him, he had already gone.

He had to find Cloud, and soon. The three brothers were powerful and now that they had their complete collection of mastered materia, the situation had become critical. He had to go and find Cloud before the fool got killed. He alone had the answers he needed.

The way to Ajit was long and hard and the overcast night was not going to help him…

_...Let me help you…_

The crimson gunman suddenly felt something overcome him… it was a numbing feeling… a burst of energy… heightened senses… his heart… he was losing control… NO!

With a last wave wracking his body, Vincent found himself in one of his forms. But this time, he could travel faster than the wind; he felt a freedom of movement he had rarely experienced. The most interesting aspect of his new form was that he could control his body, totally. JENOVA….? Maybe, maybe not; he had no time for such riddles right now. He had to go get Strife out that mess.

"To the Ajit then"

And he was gone in a crimson blur.

-----------------------

Back at the bar, a lonely young woman was watching the cloudy night sky. It looked like a storm was brewing.

"Vincent…"

Tifa had hoped so much that the sombre gunman would change, but he had not. Neither had Cloud. Maybe it was useless for her to hope. Maybe she should give up, move on and try to forget. Emerging from her memories, a voice dear to her heart echoed once again in her mind, as it had often done in times when she had felt alone, helpless and dispirited.

"…_Never give up as long as there is hope!…"_

'_But what am I to do here? I have hoped for two years… and still nothing. I wish you were here, you would have told me what to do. But of course, if you had been here… maybe I would not have had to hope at all… you would have been here'_

Outside, the rain had begun falling again.

* * *

Author's Notes: 

I'm all right... the shooting in downtown Montréal was bad though. I was in class at that time, at the other end of the city. it was like 9/11; i just could not believe that something like this would ever happen here: in our minds, guns and madmen belong to where there are wars. just another way to prove that reality is nothing more than what we choose to believe to be true.

Vincent is having his own doubts about his reality. after all, he doesn't know what exactly has been done to him (and neither do we) So having JENOVA cells would not be too much a stretch of the imagination, wouldn't it? especially with the voice he's been hearing...

That has him worried like hell; he already loses a part of control over himself when he transforms; what would happen if he lost it completely? would he become another 'clone'?

oh, and a little scene with Tifa! lol, i can already hear, oh, what did she mean by that last bit...? is it a vintif, a cloti, a desperate love triangle, etc? Patience... ;-)

and yes, the little monologue at the end... she is speaking to Aerith/s. remember the sewers on disc one, right after the, uh, episode with Don Corneo? That's what the Cetra said to Tifa when the latter expressed her fears and doubts.


	8. Part 1: Watashi no Tenshi

**Disclaimer:** we all know I don't own anything from FF7 or square-enix/soft. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo. All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud... :-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

_Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too! Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!_

* * *

**Part 1: Watashi no Tenshi.**

* * *

_'…Gone…' _

With a final look at the tracks left by a multitude of small feet, Vincent Valentine rose from his crouch. The brothers had taken the children with them. He had no idea for what reason they had subdued them, or what they planned to do with them. Kadaj was a dangerous enemy, more so because of his unpredictability. And his relationship with Shinra was curious, to say the least. Rufus was a wily man, even if he appeared to be incapacitated; appearances were rarely to be taken at face value with him, thanks to special tutelage from Veld. The latter had had a special talent for convoluted plots, counterplots and dissimulation; Vincent had no doubt that his 'qualities' had increased over the years, much like priceless old wine.

Hence, the worst was to be feared as to the fate of the children if there really was a Shinra cooperation in this affair.

_…They need your help…_

The silent ex-Turk moved his cape aside. He did not know if it was JENOVA whispering her intentions to him. But up to now, it had not misled him.

_'…So you're innocent until proven guilty…' _

_…I am so sorry… _

A powerful feeling of anguish and guilt accompanied those words… if this was a living creature, it was in the deepest chasm of despair and remorse. Vincent could understand its emotions as it echoed with his own; in the silent night, the feelings of the dark man and disembodied voice touched and merged, tendrils of pain, despair and torment touching and flowing together, bonding.

_'…Why?…' _

But it had already left him, fleeing to find solace in darkness and solitude.

Vincent looked at the path before him. Kadaj and the others had been gone for quite some time, but the children were going to impede their progress; they could not be so far ahead. He could catch up with them about half-way out of the Forest. From then, on he would have to shadow them to their final destination.

It was soon clear that they planned to go to Midgar, or Edge, using the newly launched ferry system operated by the World Restauration Organization. Moving undetected at some distance from the group, Vincent let his mind wander and thought again about the mysterious voice; was it really Lucrecia? He longed for this to be true, for it spelled out the hope that she was still out there, hiding. Could she still be in that cave? The last time he had been there, she had disappeared without a trace, leaving behind the Death Penalty and Chaos as her final gifts to him.

He had long wondered where she had gone… if she was still alive. For her, like himself, could not age or die of 'natural causes'. Him because of what Hojo had done to him... and her because of Jenova. They had both cloistered themselves in solitary confinement for thirty years without any resources that normal humans would need to survive; she in fear that she would cause harm to others, him to relive his sins, his nightmares, time and time again to punish himself for his failures.

If it was really her… then the cave was the only place she would go to. It had been her refuge for thirty years; for some reason unknown to him, it had brought her solace. But then, he did not know that much about her; when he had met her in Nibelheim, all that he knew about Professor Lucrecia Crescent was all that was written in the personnel file: she was a Class-A researcher in biotechnology for the Shinra, young, beautiful, single, assistant to Professor Gast in the current project. In fact, her entourage had mainly been a scientific one, the closest being of the same grade as herself. Nothing about her past. That had not bothered the young Turk; everyone had a past and if it was so blatantly missing, it could only mean that hers was an unexceptional one containing what one would expect from the file of a woman who had spent the better part of her life in a classroom of some kind or a laboratory.

The first time they had met, Vincent had been more relaxed that he had been in a long time. Nibelheim… such a beautiful place, so peaceful. That Veld would send him there on 'bodyguard' duty was almost too good to be true; guard a scientist in such a place was almost laughable. Who would attempt on her life here, so far from the unrest growing in the cities? So, he had decided to take it as a holiday of some sort. And the moment he had seen that incredibly beautiful young woman, so odd in her lab-coat… he had had the feeling that fate had sent him here for a reason. His heart has stilled for a moment in eternity and a smile had appeared on his lips involuntarily. Could it be…? Did she feel the same way too?

However, the beautiful young woman had reacted rather strangely upon hearing his name… but after all, she was a scientist, and must have heard of Dr. Grimoire Valentine. Or had she known his father? Had she met him? Many were those who had been surprised within Shinra that the son of such an exalted scientist would choose to work as a Turk, of all things. And his appearance had been partly to blame too.

Vincent knew that he did not look much like his father except for two distinctive characteristics: unruly black hair and ruby eyes. He had inherited his features from his mother, features so delicate as to be bordering dangerously close to _prettiness_. Had he been a girl, those long lashes, pale complexion and delicately-shaped lips would have been perfect.

But he was a Turk and had to command respect; the young man had been thankful for his father's legacy, for according to him, they saved him from being taken too lightly. Most of the Turks then were grim-faced men whose slightest stare was rumoured to cower a suspect into admitting his crimes. And Veld was the catch-word for 'grim'. As a bid to balance his unfortunate appearance, Vincent had built a reputation of seriousness and coldness. Everyone who had met him had been left with the distinct feeling that appearances were very misleading in some cases, and that no son could be more different from his sire.

The present-day Vincent wondered if things would have turned out differently for them all if he had kept this façade with Lucrecia…

Maybe it would; but given the opportunity to go back in time and change his attitude to his professional one... he would not have done it, if it meant that he would have not had the chance to see her smile, so sweetly, to him... for the very first time, in a halo of light…

His angel.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

I did some corrections to the earlier chapters; nothing drastic, just corrected grammatical errors and cut out some repetitions. if you find anything strange, just pm me please...

So more of Vincent's past here. I have decided to depict Veld as a VERY cold man- more a machine than a human being. But the young Vincent would have met Veld just after the Kalm incident, when the latter had accidentally ordered the death of most of the population there, including that of his own wife and daughter... it kinda figured to me that any person who was still working for the same company and doing the same job would be in a kind of detached personnality, like he was in denial of what he had done. Hence, the inhuman side to Veld.

I also think that Vincent had not done much time in the Turks; so he didn't know of that affair and did not have the opportunity of getting to know Veld after the latter had grieved... the cold man behind the desk is the only picture that Vincent has of the older Turk.

As for the bit about Lucrecia being married to Hojo, it's true; read the Omega Ultimania guide, it was specifically stated that she was that slug's wife. what she ever saw in him is beyond me, but i'll try to find reasons why later on.. fact is, i kinda already have an idea.

oh, and 'watashi no tenshi' means 'my angel'... i hope :-p

* * *

**20/10/06**

Did some major corrections in this chapter in the light of events as revealed in DoC. This will not impact the ending, but will definitely change the way my story was supposed to flow. When replaying the event viewer of the game, I realized that I had missed some important things.. how this could have happened? maybe i should quit playing late into the night and get some rest... :-p

First of all, Vincent did not know that Lucrecia had worked with/for his father. Second... when they first met, she was still single. she later chose Hojo over him. :-(

So I snipped some bits here and there and filled in the gaps; you might almost call this cosmetic surgery ;-)

Anyway, I hope this will not happen again, I feel so depressed. Sumimasen... :-(


	9. Part 1: Blaze of Chaos

**Disclaimer**: we all know I don't own anything from FF7. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo.All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud ...:-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

_Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too. Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!_

* * *

**Part 1: Blaze of Chaos.**

* * *

Bullets ripped through the air, bouncing off the target's armor. The beast roared in rage, punching the ground with its powerful mandibles. A wave of solidified earth blew up in the air, swirling overhead in a cyclonic movement. If he had had time to say something about this, the gunman would have commented that this was the point where the earth finally met the sky. 

But he was otherwise preoccupied, namely with the matter of his own survival. The situation was not looking good: his munitions for most of his weapons were low, Cerberus included; he was out of regenerative items; he had no ether or MP left, and worse of all, he couldn't escape this battle nor transform in any of his forms. His opponent, a twelve foot tall mass of hard blue-grey shimmering exoskeleton, wicked black spikes, enormous sharp mandibles and deadly intent had so far resisted all of his attacks without suffering as much as a scratch.

Instead, each and every one of his offensive actions had maddened the creature. The giant insect roared again, gathering up energy between its wide-open mandibles, spikes crackling with red electricity. It furthermore anchored itself to the ground, shaking the spikes running along the length of its spine up to the tip its scorpion-like curled tail.With each passing second, the chunks of earth levitated overhead was whirring faster and faster, building enough kinetic energy to reach the damage capacity of a proton torpedo at the very least: anything coming in contact with it would get pulverized to space dust.

They were moving in an orderly way, forming distinct rings of varying sizes and power. The friction with the air was heating up the earth; the inner rings, closer to the vortex, were already throwing up sparks, ready to burst into combustion any moment.

'_Damn!'_

If he didn't stop it now, he would not be able to walk away from this fight.

He had heard of the existence of such a beast; they were intelligent creatures, powerful, notoriously rare and presumed to be almost indestructible. _Almost_. Therefore, the beast had to have a weak spot in its armour; up to now, he had not been able to find it. Maybe…

That was when the monster decided to release its first salvo. The outermost ring shot out of formation and torpedoed at the crimson-caped man. His unnatural instincts saved him, once again. Vincent dove to the left, sprinting to take cover behind a rocky formation.

'…_Quicker…!'_

He did not make it; the outer ring made contact with the earth. An explosion of gigantic proportions followed the impact and a shock wave of sienna earth ripped through the air. It caught up with the gunman, picking him up from the earth as if he weighted nothing and projected him violently into the cliff, more than ten feet away from the ground. Vincent felt all the air leave his lungs as he crashed into the solid wall of stratified rock and tasted the metallic tang of blood in his mouth. Instinctively, he plunged his clawed left hand into the rock, anchoring himself in place. However, this was only a temporary measure; already, he was starting to slide down. If he did not find a stable position soon, he would fall. Wheezing, a searing pain in his chest, he sought a proper foothold around him but found none.

'_Time to get creative.'_

Vincent literally dug his feet into the rock, using the metal tips of his boots to force the crumbling material apart, effectively stopping his descent. With his free hand, he wiped away a trail of blood from his eyes, coming no doubt from a cut he had received on the head. More worrying was the fact that he had in all probability broken some ribs, which limited his movements and spelled out the possibility of collateral damage to some of his organs. As Cid Highwind had once so delicately phrased it during their journey together during what was being now known as the JENOVA war, the pain was going to be "…a bitch to work with…"

Turning around as best as he could, Vincent looked behind him as the beast continued to gather power. An immense swirl of fire brighter than the sun now danced above its head, casting a fiery glow of doom all around. The beast's eyes, located just above its mandibles, were now awash in purple energy, glowing with an insane light. The vortex it had created was so powerful it had had to dig its six limbs deeper into the ground to hold itself down, while the upper crust of the earth around it lifted up into the air, to be engulfed in the inferno overhead.

About midway between them lay a large crater, marking his previous position. So the beast was not only powerful, it was also a dead shot.

Too bad he was too.

Single-handedly, Vincent rearmed the Cerberus for a long distance shot. He had just glimpsed something interesting, and if he was right, he should be able to take it down with a single shot. Cape flying around him, he sought to aim at it; but he was badly positioned for such a delicate shot and the wind buffeting him further decreased his accuracy. He could not shoot from here.

His other option was to climb up, about a dozen metres from his current spot. There was a narrow ledge that should serve his purposes. He started his upwards progression, hissing in pain as he reached up to grab a new handhold to hoist himself up, but he held on and continued. Vincent completed his task in an agonisingly long minute and reached the ledge dizzy with pain. Yet, he still picked himself up and propped his battered body against the cliff, aiming at his opponent's head. Through his sniper scope, he trailed the spot he had marked, waiting for an opening.

He got it.

The bullets exploded forwards as his finger pulled the trigger, followed close by a second salvo. The gunshot stilled the monster momentarily and it caught a glimpse of more metal projectiles coming its way.

'_Impudent foo_l,' it thought, '_these cannot harm me. Nothing can penetrate my exoskeleton!'_

'_Exactly'._

The bullets struck the beast just above its eyes. Its scale-covered eyelids had already snapped shut, shielding its eyes. That prevented him from seeing the second barrage coming. As the eyelids had moved upwards, they had exposed dark blue membrane beneath, just between mandibles and eyes. Three bullets penetrated the exposed area, burying deep into the flesh.

Taken aback, the monster momentarily lost its concentration and that proved to be its downfall. It lost control of the vortex and the latter started to spin crazily on itself. No longer on a straight axis, fiery projectiles were shooting out of it, raining all around.

The horrified beast could only scream as its own solar storm descended on him, burning and ripping its exoskeleton away, and disintegrating the flesh beneath to greasy cinders and finally, nothing. Only, this was not the end. The firestorm seemed to implode for a moment, tightening around a core of pure white hot energy, before releasing its power.

In a final explosion, the inferno expanded in a flashover effect, washing over the land in fiery hunger.

High up above the sea of destruction, Vincent watched, fascinated; the hot air was burning his parched throat, choking his inflamed lungs. He coughed up blood, confirming that one of his ribs had at the very least lacerated them. Vincent lay down, exhausted and out of options. He had won, but he was going to die here.

No one knew where he was; he had no potions left to patch him up or enough energy to call up a decent curative spell. Too bad he had had no time to find out whose voice it had been…

He closed his eyes. And he smiled. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all; this was a typical rookie Turk's dream.

To go in a blaze of Chaos…

* * *

Author's notes:

Some of the promised action at last, even if this chapter doesn't describe the battle from a-z. Some people I know should be happy now ;-) _/wink, wink, nudge, nudge/_

The monster here is one of my creations. i drew him up as i was writing this and boy, wasn't i happy i remembered those biology classes. It doesn't have a name, because i wasn't bothered to look, but anyone wishing to christen it, just tell me. i'll look your proposition(s) over and incorporate it later on, promise ;-)

as for the reason why Vincent doesn't transform here, it's simply because he didn't have the proper item to cure his status ailment. hence the reason why girls carry enormous bags; we're always prepared for anything!


	10. Part 1: Bonds of old

**Disclaimer:** we all know I don't own anything from FF7. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo. All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud ...:-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

_Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too. Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!_

**

* * *

**

Part 1: Bonds of old.

* * *

"Holy SHIT…!"

The carmine-haired man gaped at the scene in front of him, repeating that single sentence like a mantra. His partner simply gaped in characteristic silence.

Tifa's hand had the edge of her seat in a death grip. She remembered that area quite well. She remembered the mad race her companions and herself had waged to reach and save the last Cetra… Cloud's frantic, desperate need to reach the Ajit. But however they raced, however they tried, they had been powerless to stop the hand of Fate; they had come too late. When they left the forgotten city, she had lost a sister and more of her heart than she could spare; the woods here had been the silent witnesses of her hidden, helpless grief.

But present disaster overruled past heartbreak; as far as she could see, a sea of black clouds marred the sky, creating an artificial night in which the flames below could dance even more wildly. They were far above the inferno, yet they could still feel the angry heat of the flames. What could have caused this?

'_Cloud… Marlene… Denzel… please don't be here'_

-------------------------

"Where do you think you're going?" Reno was casually standing in the doorway, barring her exit.

Tifa shouldered her travelling bag. "Cloud needs help"

"How d'you know that?"

"Vincent was here earlier." She did not add that she was unsure whether the sombre man would help his one-time companion.

"Well, we didn't see him. Sorry, you can't go, cupcake. See, we're to keep an eye on you. Can't do that if you go gallivanting after Spikey ". Reno flashed her his signature cocky grin and leaned against the doorjamb.

"You can't? Don't tell me you've been grounded again?"

With that last, Tifa smiled wryly and pushed past him.

"She's got you here". The tall, well-built suit-clad figure of Rude emerged from the shadowy corner he had appropriated. He noticed that his partner's smug air had all but completely vanished to be replaced by open-mouthed disbelief. A man of few words, Rude readjusted his omnipresent shades and made for the door. He stopped by the younger man, snapped his gaping mouth shut, and followed the young woman out in the streets.

"Tifa!"

"You can't stop me."

"We don't intend to. The helicopter will bring us sooner to the Ajit"

Reno shot out of the bar, almost slipping over the wet steps, his EMR in hand.

"He--hey! What do you think you're doin? Strife told us to _look _after her! Not take her around!"

"He told us to look after her; not hold her hostage."

"Bullshit! You, you're doin this because you have this thnff-"

Reno gagged as Rude clamped his hand over his mouth.

"I am doing this because Strife needs help."

"MMMMmmFffGGHhh!"

Tifa's eyebrows raised as the older man pulled his partner in front of him and clamped both of his hands over the latter's mouth _tight._

"And that's ALL!"

Reno yelped as Rude pushed him away, whacking him on the head at the same time. Tifa could not help a smile this time; it was like watching siblings squabble.

The red-haired young man glared at the older man and muttered something incomprehensible under his breath whilst rubbing his injured cranium. Ever his impassive self, Rude turned to Tifa as if nothing had happened and said:

"Are you sure you're OK enough to go?"

Still smiling, Tifa nodded and followed a silent Rude and a harrumphing Reno to the 'copter. They might just come in time to help Cloud out of this one.

-------------------------

Tifa pressed her forehead against the window, watching anxiously for any sign of life down there. The helicopter bucked under the turbulences caused by the heat.

"I can't go any further, it's too risky!", shouted Reno in the headset, "We have to go back!"

"No!"

"So what do you propose princess? They might not be here after all!"

"…"

She knew that this was the result of a fight. They all knew it. Such a fire was not caused by any kind of natural occurrences, save the end of the world and they had already gone through that. The only people in this area who were powerful enough to cause this were either Cloud, or Vincent if the latter had decided to go and help out after all. The silence stretched as Tifa tried to find a way, any way, to continue their search. And once again, Rude came to her rescue.

"Reno, take us down over there."

The young man looked over at the impassive profile seated beside him.

'_Duh. I thought he had learnt his lesson with Chelsea. Pfffft…'_

"O-Kay people, here we go!"

Reno veered sharply to the right towards the edge of the inferno. Tifa kept her eyes glued to the window, watching for any sign of life. But she was slowly coming to face to face with the fact that nothing could survive such heat. Her eyes slowly welled with tears but she did not cry. She had to keep on hoping!

And there, on the edge of that drop-off almost at the epicentre of the inferno… fluttering in the wind…

"RUDE!"

"I see it. Reno."

"Almost there boss!"

Rude reached in his pocket and fished out an Ice materia. Leaning back, he handed it to Tifa wordlessly. The young woman took it gratefully and voiced her thanks; she had none on her because she had entrusted her whole stock to Cloud.

"There you go, sis!"

Tifa caught the Cure materia that a winking Reno had pitched towards her and smiled back weakly. The cheeky young man was trying to cheer her up, but the worry was eating her up inside. Her hand balled on the cold orb of solidified Mako.

Reno had not even completed the landing when both Rude and Tifa jumped off the craft. Once a safe distance away from the rotating blades, they looked over the sea of fire lying some way in front of them and the devastation therein. Tifa's skin heated up as she came nearer to the flames and colour suffused her cheeks, neck and ears in delicate shades of pink. Her long black hair stuck to her sweaty skin in sweet tendrils and she ardently wished that she had something to hold them back as she pushed the dark mass out of her face.

This was not going to be a piece of cake.

Reno came up behind them and observed Rude discreetly watching Tifa. He mentally sighed; man, that guy was impossible. Two years and he was still trying _not_ to make calf-eyes at her. His partner's amorous skills were decidedly rusted, if they existed at all, and although he had promised not to take this aspect of Rude's life in his hands anymore, he decided that the old boy was never going to come to anything if this continued on like that. He was almost twice his age, but he needed help, like, BAD. _He _had grabbed his chance just before Sector Seven fell, and boy, had it been a handful…

"Reno!"

Rude's voice shook him out of his fond reminiscences and brought him back to the present. Reno had the distinct feeling that the older Turk knew what he had been thinking of. How embarrassing for him. Smirking, he shouted back:

"Keep your hair on, I'm comin'! "

Tifa vaguely heard the two Turks converse but her attention was focused on that piece of fabric she had glimpsed on that cliff, fluttering like a pennant. She could not ascertain of its colour because of the red glow that the fire cast over everything in a mile-wide range. It could be Vincent as well as Cloud, or maybe both or maybe even nothing at all. She prayed that it was the latter; just a random piece of fabric.

Who was she fooling? Tifa dreaded what she would find up there; the fear and worry dried up her throat, made her forget every physical hurt and discomfort she was suffering.

Reno reached them and took out his Ice materia.

"C'mon, let's get this show on the road!"

And a blast of freezing energy shot out from his outstretched hand, evaporating and drenching the burning land as it hit the flames. Tifa and Rude followed suit, and slowly, they made their way to the cliff, Rude regularly tossing at them Ether vials to replenish their energy. It was hard work, and it took the better part of an hour. During all that time, they worked silently, concentrating on the task at hand, each preoccupied with their own thoughts.

Tifa was remembering Nibelheim as it burned to the ground along with most of the people who had constituted her world then.

Rude was remembering another fire, in what had been another life before this one. That fire had orphaned him, made him homeless. Shin-Ra had found him days later living in the forest that had then surrounded Kalm.

Reno was asking himself how long they would have to keep this up. He was simply dying in that suit…

At long last, his wishes were answered and they reached the foot of the cliff. Rude looked at them; he was notoriously bad at climbing. He would stay down to keep the fire at bay and the way clear. Tifa on the other hand had already started to climb up, and was surprisingly good at it. Belatedly, Reno remembered that she had been a mountain guide; climbing must be something pretty natural to her then. And typically, as he looked up, he deeply regretted the fact that she no longer wore that killer miniskirt. With a sigh full of regret, he started to climb up after her, mimicking her movements. Five minutes later, Tifa had reached the ledge. There was only one person here, a full-grown man. The man lying sprawled on the ground was not Cloud but-

"Vincent!"

The young woman rushed to his side; she pushed back his dark hair and noted his unusually low temperature, his dry lips. His pale face was deathly white now, except for the dark dried-up blood coating its left side. She tentatively tried to pull him up in a sitting position against her but stopped in her tracks when she felt something; in the flickering lights, she was horrified to see that her entire arm was drenched in dark red blood. Too much blood… but this time it was not a sword… not Masamune.

Her former comrade in arms did not appear to be breathing. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing this impression to be false.

'_Please Vincent… Don't die out on me too.'_

That was when she felt him move, weakly, in her arms… His chest barely lifted upwards as he struggled to draw some air into his lungs. What with his injuries and blood loss, the fire was belching out columns of hot smoke, rarefying the oxygen in the air and they right in the middle of it. It was a miracle he still had a breath of life left in him.

Tifa was about to try her luck with a Cure spell when she heard Reno scramble up the ledge, complaining loudly about something or other. She got a better idea.

"Reno! Do you have any Phoenix Down on you?"

"What- Who…? Wow! Did coffin-boy do this?" Reno's eyes swept over the downed man and the flames below. Admiration glimmered in his eyes. "And yeah. Allow me."

The Turk fished in his pockets for some moment before finding the desired item. With a strange little smile on his lips, Reno tossed it at the gravely injured man.

'_Our debt is repaid, big brother. Now we can get back at kicking your sorry old butt.'_

Vincent's eyes shot open.

* * *

Author's notes:

So Vincent is back from _another _NDE ;-) (he should write a book about this; he'd make a mint. like "How to best and befuddle death: the Vincent Valentine guidebook to coming back from the other side.")

Reno and Rude as their AC comic-relief selves here. nothing earth-shattering except that it was harder to write than chapter9; i kept adding things, views, etc. they were all like screaming for a line in my head, lol. who ever said comedy was a piece of cake?

ah, and you'd be wondering who the heck is Chelsea (no, it's not a cousin of mine who's been nagging me to get a line in here). she's a character in an official ff7 game ;-) i'll expand upon her character and role later on... or you might want to do some diggin on your side too.

Rude as a former resident of Kalm is purely my presumption here. i dunno how old he is exactly, but he looks older than everyone else in the Turks (Tseng included) so he'd be around his mid to late thirties. that would match the time around which Veld accidentally killed most of its inhabitants.

Part 1 of this story should be over soon. i plan to transit to part 2 in about 5 more chapters, but that may be wishful thinking...

Lord Makura, Uchiha Aywin and Moonshine's Guide: thank you for your reviews! they're water to my mill, sunshine to my soul, food to my fickle muse ;-p

may the gods of reviewers bless you...

Celeste


	11. Part 1: For Those Who Fight

**Disclaimer:** we all know I don't own anything from FF7 or square-enix/soft. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo. All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud... :-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

_Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too! Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!_

_

* * *

_

**Part 1: For those who fight.**

**

* * *

**

"Cloud is going back to Edge. Marlene is with him."

Tifa silently thanked the gods above. She methodically continued her task, washing off the congealed blood and sterilizing the cuts he had received. Most of his major wounds had been sorted out, thanks to Reno's Phoenix Down and her own cure spell.

The gunman was now lying down in the copter's back seat. He was still weak from his haemorrhages and Reno had had to bring him down from the cliff on his back, muttering all the time about "…carrying to and fro AVALANCHE …." Reno and Rude were right now trying to clear the immediate area of the fiends attracted there by the heat so that they could take off. The silence stretched between them until Tifa finished with her task.

"What has happened?"

She waited for an answer as she busied with packing up her first aid kit. He watched his handiwork burning brightly through the open door for a moment before closing his eyes. Had he gone to sleep? Tifa waited for a moment, and then bent over to cover his still form with a blanket when he suddenly spoke; she almost jumped out of her skin in shock.

"There was a fight in the Forest." Vincent didn't think it necessary to precise which one it had been; this particular area would always be known as THE Forest to all of AVALANCHE. He continued:

"They were both all right when they left for Edge. The three men too are going there with the children."

"You were following them, weren't you? Why didn't you call one of us for help?"

Vincent's eyes snapped open and twin orbs of red pierced her with an unfathomably irritated glare. She thought it wiser to let the matter drop.

"So why are they going to Edge? What are they planning to do with the children? Is… Denzel with them? Is he OK?"

Tifa's heart stilled as Vincent's gaze suddenly turned blank, his emotions carefully hidden behind his usual mask and a sudden chill made her shiver despite the heat of the flames. Vincent looked at the young woman, the distraught shadow in her eyes, the tension betrayed by her perfect stillness. He held her gaze for a moment and replied calmly.

"I don't know who Denzel is… but Marlene mentioned him. He may be with the other children following Kadaj."

"So he must be all right! Vincent, tell me, why are they going to Edge?" Relief washed over her. The kids were all right... Cloud was all right...

The gunman closed his eyes and looked down, his face half-disappearing behind the high cowl of his cape.

"I don't know. But it cannot be for a good thing."

Better tell her what he thought rather than lead her on a false path. The situation was critical and the young woman was intelligent; she would not be fooled by anything less than the truth.

"Kadaj is powerful and dangerous; he and his brothers also have Cloud's materia. Kadaj is an unstable individual; his future actions are hard to predict and I cannot say with any certainty that he will not create mayhem and put the children in danger".

Silence. Tifa was letting that information sink in, her eyes now glittering with determination, the same determination that he had seen in her eyes as she fought for her life as Emerald WEAPON had attacked, the same determination as in that last battle against Sephiroth.

"I must get back to Edge. I must warn the others!"

"Princess!". Reno's cry echoed from outside.

Tifa turned around and looked out of the helicopter. Reno was fighting off a six-foot tall humanoid fiend, while Rude was taking care of a couple more.

"Princess! Get ready! We've got to go soon! These things are –argh!"

Reno dodged a fireball that had missed Rude and landed near to the helicopter. His opponent grinned and approached. Reno was cornered now, and the fiend knew it. A man with his back to a wall often found himself holding the wrong end of the stick; he had limited movements, often found himself on the defensive and could not run anywhere else if the situation got tight. Unfortunately for his opponents, Reno did not believe in defence stances; attack, according to him, was the only damned way to fight.

The red-haired Turk reacted; he jumped up and flipped back, and as he hit the side of the copter he used it as leverage to propel himself forwards to rush the enemy, EMR in hand.

Fiery ponytail flying behind him, Reno thrust the EMR into the fiend's right eye, snatching a scream of pain and anger from its oversized mouth. The Turk landed smoothly on his feet; he looked in the direction of the copter, grinned and winked; he knew he had an audience.

"Cocky young fool."

_Huh?_ Tifa looked back to Vincent. He was lying propped up on his elbow, watching the scene outside. Tifa looked back. Half-blinded, the enraged fiend was howling with pain and rage, clutching its head and crouching on its hind legs. Reno was downright strolling towards the beast, EMR slung casually on his shoulder.

"Why are you-"

Her words died in her throat as Reno flew back and crashed into the copter's side, leaving quite a dent in it from the force of the impact.

"Reno!"

Tifa jumped out of the copter, pulling on her gloves as she rushed to the young man's side. He was slumped down, completely immobile. Tifa briefly checked his vital signs… he was out right now, but not gravely injured; he would make it through. If the fiends let them get out of here…

Tifa rose from the young Turk's side and observed the situation. Rude was still fighting off some fiends, but he seemed to be able to handle them quite effectively. Reno's opponent on the other hand was quite another story; its body was rippling with hate and anger, full of fury. Orange liquid was oozing from the wound in its head, trailing down its face to drip on the ground. She watched as the drops fell to the ground, burning the ground and forming a little pool of lava at its feet. There was no denying it; it was royally pissed.

She had enough battle experience to know that opponents who were overruled by their emotions were fierce, dangerous and powerful fighters, but also often fatally lacked judgement and objectivity. If she played her cards right, this was going to be child's play.

Tifa first feinted to the right, in a semblance of attacking it with a blow to its injured eye. The six-foot tall beast rushed forward, roaring, to block her attack with one of his own punishing punches. As it threw all of its weight towards her, Tifa sidestepped and back-flipped, landing gracefully behind it. The energy it had assembled for its attack suddenly losing its outlet, the beast floundered, thrown off-balance, and it crashed heavily on the ground.

Still slightly dizzy, it whirled round and launched itself once again at the frail-looking young woman, meaning to crush her under his weight and strength. And once again, its prey deftly evaded him, rolling this time to the left just as it was about to get close enough to her to launch itself at her. This little game of cat and mouse lasted for another minute or so, the beast's crude onslaughts growing wilder and more frantic with each and every time Tifa eluded it. Unknown to the beast, Tifa was drawing it further and further away from the copter.

Vincent, propped up inside it, understood her actions. This was their only means out of this god-forsaken place. If there was any real fighting to be done, it had to be some distance away from here so as to avoid any further damage. The helicopter had been built to withstand fight situations, but it could only take so much damage and they sure didn't have a Cid Highwind to patch it up with spit, curses and mechanical genius. So she had to interest the monster enough in her, by annoying it and dealing small blows that wounded more of its pride and self-esteem than doing actual harm. Enough to make it forget its other targets, enough to bait it away from the copter.

As it picked itself up for the nth time, what remained of its restraint fled and it roared in madness. It unleashed an offensive TK field, and Tifa, much as Reno had, found herself flying through the air. She tried to control her landing to keep from falling on the side she had injured while fighting that silver-haired man and rolled into the charred stump of a tree. Still, she barely had time to catch her breath before the beast was upon her, its clenched fist about to reduce her head into a bloody pulp.

Tifa jerker her head away before it could hit her fully and felt it graze her scalp; a split second too late and she would have been in for it. She was caught lying between the stump and the creature.

'_All right… far enough. This will have to do.'_

Using her hands as leverage, she propelled herself between its outstretched limbs. As her level gaze met its astonished one for a millisecond, she jerked her hips up and locked her feet on its muscular throat, standing literally on the tip of her fingers. The creature had barely had the time to react that she pulled her legs down sharply, arching backwards as she released the hold on him and sent the monster flying over her to crash into a pile of smouldering timber.

She sprung immediately to her feet and launched herself at the downed form, catching it just under the jaw and trailing it for some feet before using all of her might to launch the massive figure up in the air. However, it was not airborne for long. The beast was still hurting and shaken from being roughly dragged by the throat when it felt the young woman's foot crash into its head in a furious roundhouse, just before she grabbed its shoulders and jabbed her knee hard into its solar plexus as it crashed into the ground, driving it in until she felt bone break and organs explode beneath the rough skin with the force of the impact. Fiery blood exploded from its mouth, but the young woman had already jumped away from the mortally wounded monster.

Tifa kept her fighting stance as she watched it splutter, trying to breathe as its lungs filled with liquid collapsed and its lacerated heart tried to function properly. Finally, it died, looking at her with eyes full of hatred and pain.

"Woo-hoo! Impressive, princess! Remind me never to piss you off…"

Reno had woken up and was grinning at her, still slouching against the copter. Rude too was watching, having dispatched his last opponent to the Lifestream. Vincent could not tell what the bald Turk was thinking, but he was undoubtedly impressed, being himself a hand-to-hand combatant like Tifa. From his viewpoint, Tifa's slim body was silhouetted against the dancing flames, her dark eyes practically glowing with energy, the dark figure of a war goddess rising from the battlefield she had left behind victorious.

She smiled slightly at them before advancing towards the helicopter.

"All right gentlemen. Let's get going before we get more visitors, OK? I've got some important phone calls to make and I don't have my phonebook on me…"

Some seconds later, the helicopter was rising in the air, going back to Edge…

* * *

_Author's notes:_

Another chapter done, another action scene. Lol, I think I'm developing a partiality to them :-p

This scene is here to explain HOW Vincent managed to get to Edge before Cloud did. Remember, he can transform in that cape thingy, but that's not something he can quite control. So basically, he's on foot, while Cloud is speeding away on Fenrir. So, plot hole (once again).

Does this make more sense to you? ;-) A nice big explosion to flag his position and Tifa and the Turks swooping in to save him and bring him to Edge, throwing in some fights to spice it all up…

Tifa is a GREAT combatant_./ remembers the fight scene in the church/_ I sincerely think that Rude has half a mind to ask her to join the Turks, what with her skills and natural instincts and even if she is AVALANCHE. But of course, he wouldn't. lol. Underneath it all, he's just a VERY shy guy_…/grins/_

Because as we all know, unlike SOLDIERS, Turks have not been subjected to any Mako/JENOVA treatments and thus their superhuman strength and resilience is just that: superhuman. Anyway, she would be better than Elena, that's for sure…

Oh, and the cell phone joke is once again on Vincent. Tifa doesn't own one either here because she's always in the bar, I guess. However, we do see her with one in Dirge, which probably means that she regularly moves about to fight either DGS or monsters or whatever.


	12. Past Imperfect: Rude: An Undying Love

**Disclaimer:** We all know I don't own anything from FF7 or square-enix/soft. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo. All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud... :-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

_Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too! Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!_

* * *

**Past Imperfect : Rude -An Undying Love**

* * *

He had first heard of that bar from a couple of friends at the office. He had gone there more out of boredom than any real desire to socialize. Since then, he had always spent some time there whenever he was in that town and had some ground time to spare. 

He could not really say why he went so much there; it was as dimly lit and drab as any other bar down in the slums in that sector, with the usual mix of shady clientele whose sallow skins sickly reflected the neon signs on the walls, happy-go-lucky drunks and die-hard gamblers. The usual lot of garishly painted sluts hung around the doorway, much like the cloud of smoke and narcotics that always hovered inside, whether there were clients or not.

Maybe he liked the drinks; but then, there were many other bars in town which offered more sophisticated drinks that could knock you off just by sniffing at them. Maybe he liked the atmosphere; the patrons here did not care a whit whether he was a Turk or not, they just went on their merry way and pretended he was not there.

He sat down at his usual table, back to a wall with a clear view of every doorway while being rather set apart from the rest of the room. The barman, a forty-ish burly man with dark hair came over and set down his usual order on the wooden table.

"Ere's your poison. Aven' seen you in a while, eh?"

He simply nodded noncommittally and the barman went away, shrugging. The man seated at the table stared at the glass in front of him.

Maybe it was because of her.

He had heard her name first. He had heard one of the men call her as she came in, telling her to come and join him and his buddies at their table. He had quietly observed what she would do; from the moment she had stepped in the bar, he knew she was not one of those half-starved harpies hovering outside. She had dark eyes and long brown hair that she had worn down that day in a glossy ponytail. Her clothes, simple and functional, had hinted at a lithe and strong body underneath. She was pretty, in a conventional sort of way, but with something else thrown in that caught the eye and made a lasting impression. The young woman had just laughed and told him good-naturedly to go to hell and his wife before setting down at the bar where a glass of something was immediately put down before her. Apparently, she had taken to visiting this bar quite a lot in the month or so he had not been there.

This had been the first time he had seen her. Since then, she had been a constant at this bar, always popping in for an hour or two before sauntering away to somewhere else. Then, he had often wondered why she came to that bar too.

Before long, she started to notice his discreet presence and occasionally waved or smiled in his direction before turning away. He, of course, barely responded, until that day.

She had entered the bar, a man hot on her heels, shouting until he was red in the face about something or other. The young woman completely ignored him and sat down at the bar with a sang-froid that he thought would have improved many of his colleagues' attitudes. The man, enraged, had grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her back so sharply that she half-fell out of the barstool, grasping the counter for support. He then proceeded to grasp her arms and tried to twirl her around. Meanwhile, most of the patrons watched, bemused and more than a little entertained by the fight; others half-lifted themselves from their seats, unsure whether they should intervene or not. The silent man sitting in the shadows did not move.

The man, whether boyfriend or neighbour or just another madman on the streets yanked her hair, making her throw back her head and cry out in pain, reaching instinctively for her scalp. This gave him the opening he had been aiming for and he pulled her roughly out of her seat, his hand still twirled in her hair. Murmurs of disapproval were heard and someone shouted that this was a dirty trick but still, no one acted as he started to shake her like an angry baby would shake his toy in a temper tantrum. She did not endure this for long, for a leather-clad hand had clamped down so firmly on her attacker's shoulder that he released his hold, gasping in pain.

"Leave the lady alone. Forever."

And in a lightning-quick movement, Rude had somehow ejected the howling man back out in the streets into a puddle of slush under the jibes of the whores and helped the young woman sit back down before going back to his place, as if nothing had happened. The man had never bothered her again.

That had been the first time that she had heard him actually talk, and since then, she had regularly gone out of her way to speak to him.

That was the start of an odd relationship; they would invariably meet at the bar when Rude was in town, stay there for some time before she got up and Rude followed her outside, to accompany her to her place. Before long, the other patrons noticed that those two, even if they did not talk much were _sharing _something Something that few could put into words. Something that no one would dare put into words when in association with _him._

No one except Reno, that is.

That day, Rude had known that his devil-may-care colleague had had him shadowed. For some time already, he had been asking about Rude's whereabouts after work hours, since he never joined the gang in their nocturnal after-hours outings these days. Reno was young, hot-tempered and lacked discretion but Rude was fairly confident that time would remedy that; those who did not adapt to the rules of the game always ended up in a box somewhere and Reno was the kind of guy who liked life too much to do such a mistake. He would learn to keep his intentions more obscure until he pounced on his prey, like all those who had preceded him.

It was winter now; snow was slowly falling from the grey skies, covering the city with a mantle of white. Streetlights illuminated the darkening avenues, casting warm spotlights on frosty banks of snow. Rude watched the snowflakes dance in the light for a moment, before moving on. He had to lose the rookie Reno had sent.

He had a date.

The road leading from the reactor they had just inspected was quite deserted as it was a secondary road that was used only for maintenance purposes. But the main road was full of people out for a walk, shopping or just spending time together. Gaily coloured lights were strung between buildings, adding a festive touch to the otherwise monochrome city. Shops had started to close later in the night and one could admire the displays as they rivalled in beauty, creativity and abundance in celebration of the holiday to come.

Rude barely noted those details; his whole attention was on giving the slip to the rookie. Usually, he should have been able to lose the unwanted company in the throng, but the Turk was a good one, even if not full-fledged yet. A slight smile appeared on his lips as he realized that he had been the one to teach the young Turk how to shadow a prey. Oh well. He would just have to outwit his own techniques then. It was a simple matter of blending in and moving with the masses, strolling leisurely to apparently nowhere but with a particular destination in mind. The rookie would be keeping tabs on tall men with determined strides; his attitude and posture changed and adapted so as to distance himself from his usual self and mannerisms. Rude concentrated himself on the task and after some time, he reached his goal at an intersection. Just to be on the safe side, Rude decided to use the sewers to completely befuddle the rookie; he had absolutely no desire to have an audience, whether well-meaning or not. Sewers were dangerous for the untrained person; but Rude had no problem at all with the monsters he encountered, saving several people on his way out. One of them, a guy in a doubtful yellow-coloured suit was particularly informative; maybe he would find them this time after all.

The inky night was chilly when he got out of the sewers. This was a more quiet section of the city; fewer people were out and about, and there was no shopping frenzy here. It was so peaceful, one could almost imagine hearing the snowflakes fall on the ground. Rude breathed in the clean scents of winter, fresh and crisp after the miasma of the sewers. The senior Turk was now certain that the rookie would never find him; his pace was more leisurely as he walked toward the softly illuminated row of trees, and to one in particular, the tallest and most gaily decorated. A million little lights of the softest red, yellow, orange, pink, green and blue clothed its naked branches, twinkling as the soft breeze made them dance.

Rude stopped by for a moment to reflect on the display; if he remembered right, this was the twentieth year that Shinra had sponsored the decoration of that tree. And every year had a special theme. He vaguely remembered the memo that had circulated at the office some weeks ago; this year's was called 'An Undying Love'. Apparently, each of the lights on the tree was supposed to represent the love someone bore for someone else, a special person who existed somewhere on the planet. There was something else… ah! They also symbolized the hope that they would be together some day.

A young woman, carrying a basket of flowers was standing beneath it, looking at passer-bys. And just as the yellow-suit man had said, that flower girl did sell red roses. Rude gave up trying to find out how she managed to procure fresh red roses in a city where grass had trouble growing, and in winter to boot. He stopped in front of her.

"Are you interested in 'Beloved' mister?" The girl giggled softly at his confused air. "I meant the roses; they are called 'Beloved'. A dozen for only fifty Gil."

Rude nodded and handed her the money. He turned to walk away, but she reached out and stopped him.

"Maybe you should bring the lady here to watch the tree light up. It happens just when the sun sets, and it's really awesome. I'm sure she would like that." She smiled one last time and walked away, looking for another client. He watched her go silently, her long dress trailing in the snow, silver bangles glinting faintly in the night. Maybe she was right.

And then he wondered what an unlit light could mean… that there was no one for that person… or that the hope had died?

He reflected briefly on that as the wind made the strings of lights dance like fireflies on a dark lake. Then, he moved away. Some questions were destined to be left unanswered, and some others were better off left alone. The man he had become chose to believe that questions were no longer important, and thus, answers even less so. What counted was the present, what could be seen, heard, smelled and touched and felt.

A couple passed him by, smiling as they saw him bend down his head to breathe in deeper the roses' heady scent. Beloveds…

As lovely as the lady for whom they were destined. As he handed them to her at the bar, he wondered again about how lucky he was to have found her.

"Thank you, Rude. My favourite flowers. You remembered…"

Rude looked down as she bent her head and nuzzled the blooms. For some unknown reasons, he was finding it difficult to speak.

"Pure coincidence. A lady thrust them in my arms as I was coming here."

"Oh? A coincidence?" Dimples appeared as she fought vainly not to smile. "Anyway, I'm happy…"

"…Chelsea…" The tall man was finding it harder and harder to continue the conversation as something alarming was happening to him: he could feel blood suffusing his face.

This time, she could not help grinning. "Rude? Are you getting shy on me again?"

He wanted to disappear under the hardwood floor as he definitely felt himself blush under his tan. He lacked the courage to watch her as he finally spoke.

"…Chelsea… stop teasing me"

The young woman giggled. "I'm sorry."

It was plain to see that she meant it not at all, but for the next two hours, she didn't tease him… at least, not much. They spoke of work, colleagues, past experiences, life. Chelsea always asked him to take care of himself, not to tire himself out; she cared, he could see that in the way her eyes always looked at him, worry etched in their depths. But he had only known one life and didn't know much about not being tired out. He was a Turk, and his life revolved around Shin-Ra. His job description covered everything between law and order in the streets to bodyguard duty, inspection, investigation, murder and torture. Being with her made his life… different. It made him feel different, and he both hated and loved that feeling because of its addictiveness; the more he was with her, the more time he wanted to spend by her side. Lately, he had come to imagine a life without Shin-Ra and without the Turks… but this was just a dream, and dreams always belonged to the future. He belonged to the present, and he was determined to cherish every moment for the evanescent treasure that it was. Because right now, with her, he was happy.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Oh, wow. This chapter turned out to be longer than planned, and I had to divide it in two. this is part one...

Sorry for the long wait, but the twin chapters had to be worked as a whole, which meant a lot of corrections back and forth.

For those of you who've played BC, this is one fo those Eps that didn't have any meaning beside dev the story of a character in particular. in this case, it's Rude's story...

Ok, enough for now. I'll be more precise in the next chapter's notes. On to chapter 2 and R&R!


	13. Past Imperfect: Rude: The Tree of Hope

**Disclaimer:** We all know I don't own anything from FF7 or square-enix/soft. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo. All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud... :-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

_Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too! Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!_

* * *

**Past Imperfect : Rude -The Tree of Hope**

* * *

They were to meet the next day, the twenty-third of December. Rude was a bit late that time, what with all the ruckus that was happening in town these days. Many things were on his mind, mostly the AVALANCHE situation; in fact most of the crisis was thanks to them. They had to find a way to put a stop to that organisation, before they did something stupid and compromised the safety of the whole planet. He was a Turk; he had to protect the Shin-Ra and he would do anything to honour his duty. 

"What's wrong Rude? You seem strange today." She was observant as ever; she could read him better than most people who had known him all his life, and somehow, that hurt and warmed him at the same time.

"Chelsea…"

"Hmm?" She looked at him enquiringly, the flecks of gold in her eyes glowing in the dim light.

"You don't…" He forced himself to continue, "…have to lie to me."

"What do you mean?" Her gaze, once so open and guileless became shuttered even as she said those words lightly.

"…"

He had always found silence to be quite effective during interrogation sessions. Invariably, the suspect would begin to fidget under his wordless stare, becoming increasingly uncomfortable as time wore on. In a closed room, total silence makes five minutes appear to be fifty, and thirty a lifetime. Sometimes, the suspect would break and speak up when he could no longer endure the silence; sometimes, he or another Turk would have to start the interrogation. But in either case the stress caused by that technique left marks. Unnerved and vulnerable, the suspect was easier to manipulate by a hundred-fold. He had never encountered anyone without Turk training who could withstand that treatment. It did not fail him in this instance.

Chelsea lowered her eyes completely and tried circumvent the question. "…I…got here half an hour ago. I wouldn't lie to you, Rude."

"Whatever happens…my feelings for you won't change."

His gaze was inscrutable behind his ever-present shades, and his voice was a neutral as ever. Any other man uttering those words would have injected a melodramatic note. But not him. This bespoke the seriousness of the situation, how much he actually knew, and how deeply he really cared. Her shoulders sagged, as if under a heavy weight. Still, she smiled, even as tears threatened to spill over her cheeks.

"Rude…" But she did not go on.

The silence dragged on between them. Rude kept ordering stiff drinks and downing them in one go, one after the other, under the bemused eyes of the barman. Most men would have died of alcohol intoxication by now, but this one kept going as if the drinks would help him find salvation or forget something really unpleasant.

Two hours and still nothing. He decided to take the matter in his hands and stood up, startling her. He made a beeline to the bathroom, and when he came back, he had his answer. He silently sat back down, pocketing his PHS which he had left on the table.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing…"

She was flustered, blushing, her gaze a little too bright for truthfulness, her smile too ready on her lips for spontaneity. She was too suddenly back to her laughing, teasing self, for no apparent reason. So this was it. His throat constricted, making it hard to breathe and harder to speak.

"Hey, Chelsea… tomorrow… let's go see… the trees light up"

"The one at the western park, right? It will be so much better seeing it with you this time than seeing it alone…"

"……I…have something to tell you there."

"Oh? I wonder what it could be. Oh, this is really getting to me. Tell me now."

"No…" Rude shook his head. Two could play at this game. "Tomorrow."

He watched her get up and leave precipitately, declining for the first time his offer of walking her back home. He would be waiting for her, the next day, under the tree. He watched her walk away and stop as she reached the door. She turned back one last time and their eyes met over the length of the room. He took his fill of her, for tomorrow was suddenly uncertain, as slippery and fragile as dreams. He could see it in her eyes and he wished so hard that things could be different. _Goodbye…_

Reno knew too. At the end of their shift the next day, he cornered his partner.

"Rude! Going to meet that woman again?"

"…"

"I wouldn't if I were you."

"…"

"She-"

"I know." That effectively shut up his colleague. "Don't say another word."

"Rude… you knew?"

"…sorry. I know what I'm doing." On those words, Rude left his shocked and mildly amused colleague. Reno had tailed Chelsea last night and knew who she was. He also knew what his friend was trying to do. Rude might think that he was still green around the gills, but there were some things in which the older Turk had less insight than he did.

'_Ah, well. Good luck; you'll need it old man. That's a damn difficult path that you've chosen and it's going to be tough for you for quite some time.'_

The day was darkening as the sun prepared to set over Midgar; Rude, a young man not yet thirty, but with already more than half a decade of service in the Turks waited for the woman he loved to come to him under the tree of hope. She never did.

That same rookie who had tailed him some days ago came instead, bearing a message from her. The rookie had followed her, discovered her secret: she was an AVALANCHE spy. But she had fallen for Rude, and couldn't –wouldn't- betray him. In the end, she was branded a traitor, because she had listened to her heart and had not wiretapped his PHS when she had the chance to last night; the rookie had to intervene to save her from being terminated. Before leaving she had said those words:

"_AVALANCHE and Turks are sworn enemies. It is impossible for us to be together, not in this life. Please, can you do me a favour? Tell Rude… when I'm reborn, I'd like to meet him again."_

Rude walked away from the tree as it started to light up. Today was the twenty-fourth of December, and people in all of Midgar were home, celebrating, spending time with those dear to them. Lights from their windows spilled into the snow-covered streets, casting golden splashes of life on the icy crystals, brightening the stark reality.

Let them be happy, as he had been happy for a while. Now, it was over; she was gone and he was alone again, back to reality. It was not just the future that was a fantasy; the past too could be a dream. But it was the kind of reverie to be treasured, a pleasant interlude in a dark life to warm a path as cold as the one in front of him…

As Rude gazed into his glass, he reminisced of the past, and the past brought a small, strange smile to his lips. Maybe that was why he liked that bar. The original one had been destroyed, but something about this one reminded him of the place. He lived in the present. This era was different from the future he had once thought certain: Midgar was gone, and a new world had emerged, one which did not revolve around Shin-Ra. But he, like everyone else, liked to dream of the past.

He threw a couple of coins on the table and walked away in the cold winter wind, back to home, back to the Turks. The streets of Edge were devoid of the usual throng on this twenty-fourth of December dusk. And far, far away, emptier streets of a city once teeming with life glimmered as snow smothered them in a pristine white shroud; for a moment, he could imagine them as they had been that day, so many years ago… but the looming silhouette of what was left of the Shin-Ra building reminded him of the present and all of its uncertainties. Maybe one day these very streets he was walking would be ruins too… this life just a passing vision, after all; eras came and went, like waves crashing on a beach. He had once thought the future mapped out, immutable; he had learned the hard way that everything that came to be inevitably changed, and passed away silently into the twilight of life. Better go with the flow than seek to change fate against all odds. But still, some things remained constant; he had been a Turk, he was one and would probably die one.

And the Tree was still here… of course, it was not the same tree. That other tree had died two years ago, but the tradition had gone on and miniature lights adorned this one too. He stopped for a moment to watch it light up, casting multicoloured hues on the snow and forming a mosaic where the colours blended and moved away at the winter breeze's whim. The Tree of Hope…

Past, present and future… just dreams. Promises that never quite faded away as yet another life bloomed, shadows of hopes never quite forgotten for they coloured this drab reality like the lights coloured the blank snow, making the passing of days sweeter in expectation of their fulfillment; an extinguished candle was just one waiting to be rekindled, its embers secretly glowing with life in the deepest, darkest night and lights separated were only awaiting for the moment when the wind would bring them back together again.

The Tree of Hope blazed in the silent city of Edge, a coruscating beacon of colour representing every secret wish held within every heart, illuminating the infinite cold. The solitary Turk turned and walked away in the peaceful night.

'_Yes. Let's meet again in another life…' _

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Moonshine's guide... Rude is lonely but he has loved and been loved. I think he's been lucky in that. Bittersweet though this whole affair is... things like that do happen. sometimes, you meet someone and it's perfect, but you can't be together. After some time, you accept it and move on. and you just hope that you'll be together again someday, maybe in another life if you believe in reincarnation.

This is his story, and I wanted so badly to write it I spent sleepless nights thinking about it. At some point while i was revising the whole thing for the nth time, i had all of the ff characters screaming lines to me... it was pretty confusing and scary. sweatdrop i'm not crazy, it's just that this kind of things happens when i'm thinking too much or trying to. Maybe it was my muse. Yeah, blame it on the muse :-p

Ok, the last paragraphs were my FFX/spirits within 'moments'. Blame it on Gackt's Sayonara, Princess Mononoke and co if you want. But the first draft of the story finished too abruptly for my taste, and i wanted the bar to figure in this last bit again, being given i had started with it in the previous chapter. Full circle. loves this word

If you think that this last bit was a bit hard to understand, let me outline my motives behind the lyricism... god knows it took me a while to understand why i was writing all that. Double-guessing yourself is always hard. (if you find any other hidden meaning, just let me know ;-)

Circumstances change... Shin-Ra had fallen, Midgar is in ruins, eras pass and fade to let a new one through. but even when eras change, some things don't... like hope, like love. Hope doesn't pass away. Hope remains inspite and despite of everything...

So this means... i think i'll let you tell me what this means ;-)

Take care,

Celeste


	14. Part 1: A smile through aRainbow ofTears

**Disclaimer:**

We all know I don't own anything from FF7 or square-enix/soft. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo. All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud... :-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

_Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too! Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!

* * *

_

**Part 1 : A Smile through a Rainbow of Tears.**

* * *

The young woman replaced the phone back on the cradle and absent-mindedly closed her phone book. Maybe it was time for her to get a cell phone; had she had one, she would have been able to contact her friends sooner. As it was, all she could do was hope that they would be able to make it in time. The trio who had kidnapped the children were powerful and neither her nor Cloud had been able to bring down even one of them. This was going to take all of AVALANCHE, together again after two years of separation, to fight them and stop whatever they were trying to do. 

And as whenever she thought of the past these days, her eyes fell on that small piece of paper that Cloud had left on his desk, among a hundred of other little notes, before leaving their home. When she had first seen it, she had quietly replaced it in the messy pile and had left the room. She had thought that it had been the reason why he had left… now she knew that it had been his sickness that had driven him away from them. His sickness…compounded by a lot of other things that they had left unsaid, repressed to a deep corner of their souls and minds; things which had finally overflowed and overtaken his new-found self and sense of purpose.

He discreetly watched her silently for a moment, lost in her thoughts as she gazed at the messy desk. Cloud's room was large enough and the setting said something about its owner. A simple, narrow bed was set against a wall and a closet stood against another. A couple of wooden crates completed this Spartan décor, along with scattered mechanical and bike parts. She was obviously keeping it clean, but was careful not to disturb his things. So she was waiting for his return… but the lack of personal belonging, of anything that might identify the owner bespoke the temporary essence of the place. Cloud had been in the army, but everyone made a room, a corner, a spot, his. Cloud had not. This place was as much a warehouse as a room. The only personal touches he could see, a couple of photographs on the desk, were more than probably Tifa's idea. She was a home-maker, whether she wanted to or not. Such an empty, impersonal room would have made her feel uneasy. Maybe she had added those pictures to remind Cloud that this was home… or maybe that she had been trying to comfort herself with the idea that this was Cloud's home. But this was their problem. Let them sort it out.

He stepped through the open doorway, breaking her dark reverie.

"Vincent! Why are you up already? You should be resting…"

"I am all right. I have to go."

"Can't you please stay? You still need some rest and we'll need your help to stop the three brothers."

He silently shook his head; he had overheard her conversation with Barrett and knew that she had already contacted the others, who were probably on their way here. He had to continue on his path and his investigation; let AVALANCHE sort this crisis out.

"Everyone will be here to help! Cid is going to pick up Yuffie and Reeve is arranging transport for Nanaki and Barrett-"

"Whatever you're trying to do… I want no part of it. Thank you for everything."

"Wait!" She grabbed his left arm as he turned to leave. "Why? We are comrades and friends, isn't it?"

"…What you are trying to do… it is a full-fledged onslaught against them. This is not going to work. You've seen first hand how powerful Loz is. Kadaj and Yazoo are even more powerful than he is."

"It's not futile! We may not manage to beat them down, but we will be doing something!"

"Then let me return the question: why? Why would you fight? And for whom?"

She peered at him in the feeble light of the rising sun filtered by the half-closed blinds. He looked so odd here, in Cloud's room. Like he didn't somehow belong in so tame an enclosed area. She had observed the same thing about him again and again, every time they had stopped at an inn or some house to rest during their journey. It had little to do with his appearance; it was more of an aura that he projected… he was so discreet, so together; his presence was like a dark shadow, giving away nothing, insubstantial, mysterious, intimidating and fleeting, all at the same time.

One could almost forget that he was in the same room, until he said something. His voice…so strange with its deep, uninflected tone. His half-hidden face, always so set and serious, giving away nothing that he did not wish to express. And yet, when he spoke, everyone listened. And usually, what he said made sense.

That he would ask these questions half-surprised her. They had fought together to stop the greatest menace ever to threaten the planet in recent times. They had risked their lives for others and for the greater good, one of them had even died. On the other hand, the primary reason for his fight had been revenge, not for himself, but for the woman he had loved, maybe still loved.

"I fight for those who live, and for those who have given their lives so that we may live. I fight because this is what I owe to this planet, to its inhabitants and to my friends. Remember what it was like, Vincent. You cannot have forgotten."

"Your memories and mine differ, Tifa. I do not care for this world, or for its people. Your fight is no longer mine. Our ways have parted long ago."

Tifa let her arm fall to her side. "Is this really what you think?"

"Yes. I am sorry."

"I see..." He wondered if she did.

"One last thing, Vincent. Could I have your phone number? So that we can keep in touch? We still are friends, even if you're not with us."

Vincent understood; for the young woman, their fight had created bonds that could not so easily be forgotten. They had relied on their comrades for help and had provided it in turn. Whether he wanted to or not, they were part of his past, and him of theirs. He nodded.

"I will not forget. But… I cannot give you my number."

"Oh…"

He stopped at her crestfallen expression. "I do not own a cell phone."

"…?"

"I have never seen the need for it."

"You are as bad as Cloud!"

"…what?" He glanced incredulously at her. He had rarely seen her irritated, and this was probably the first time that her ire had been directed against him. For some obscure reason, that made him uneasy. What intrigued him was why his answer to her unspoken question had irritated her at all.

"You… you both refuse to live in this world! You both act as if you do not have friends, as if you care for no one! You both keep dragging around the weight of mistakes, whether real or imaginary! Both of you… you are hiding from the truth, lamenting so much your fate that you are stuck here, with us, that you're missing out on things that make of this existence a life! You cut yourselves off from those who know you and care for you!"

So this was what had been bothering her. However, he felt that her anger was more directed against Strife than at himself, mainly due to anxiety and the pain of loneliness. More often than not, those left behind hurt more than those who left. It was obvious to him that she needed to let that pain and that distress out if she wanted to be in any shape to fight later on. But even if she was transferring some of her undoubtedly pent-up feelings on him, what she said had surprisingly the bitter taste of truth. At that instant, Vincent decided not to tell her that he was going to buy one of those dratted things later on.

"…you are right."

His answer surprised her so much, her anger fled. In its stead, she felt… sad. That he would admit to such a thing… then he knew why he was acting like that. Knowing and not acting upon it equated to giving up. Vincent had given up on this world altogether. What this translated into as an existence for him, was something that broke her heart. She felt ashamed for her outburst as she remembered what he had gone through. They had all had difficult episodes in their lives, but Vincent… he had lost more than any of them, and suffered much. Maybe it was she who had forgotten what it was like, to want to be alone to mourn.

"I… I didn't mean… Vincent …"

He watched her as a range of emotions played over her pale features, her eyes shining with tears threatening to fall.

"I understand, and I am sorry for being like that. Goodbye, Tifa."

And he silently exited the bar, leaving tears to fall for him, once again. Tears that reminded him of another woman, in another place… in a happier world.

The young woman's tears fell silently, unheeded, as she watched the tall, dark figure take the road out of Edge.

"Let him go."

Another tall man stepped through the doorway and silently handed her a clean handkerchief. She accepted it gratefully, trying vainly to smile through her tears as she wiped them away.

"She told me never to give up. That there is always hope. I'm trying, but it's hard." Her voice came out as a hushed, broken whisper.

"Then, don't try." Rude kept his gaze on the window. "Just do."

Her hand froze as her heart skipped a beat. Maybe... he was right... maybe she was trying too hard. Maybe all she had to do was to be herself. Cloud, Vincent... maybe they too would find out that there is hope within every human being, and most of all within themselves, if they just let go of all the things that were shackling them down. Yes, in time, they would.

Tifa's smile blossomed through her tears and her gaze too wandered out of the window.

Together, side by side, the Turk and the AVALANCHE watched the sun quietly embrace the sleeping city.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

This is a continuation to 'Uncertain Heart'... and to 'The Tree of Hope' too. /hint/ Just take a look at the endings... ;-)

i fist planned to orchestrate the planning for the AVALANCHE reunion in Edge, but it was nt really very pertinent in the end; just a flow of stats and data, so NOT interesting :-p we all know that Cid picked Yuffie up in wutai and uses the _Shera_ to fly over. Barrett comes first on the scene, so he and Nanaki did not travel together. etc.

I'm sure all of you had a theory as to why Vincent asked Tifa where he could buy a cell phone. This is the start of my theory as to why he would say something like that to her, and why she would smile knowingly (and with so much warmth to boot. i mean, bang, he says that and she smiles as if she knows the whole story? no there are undercurrents here, namely his refusal to have anything to do with them. must be his Turk side surfacing from time to time. among other things XD)

If you're wondering about that piece of paper Tifa gazes at so thoughfully, you're right. because this piece of paper will feature in another part of the story!

the original title for this chapter was 'Veil of Tears' but it was too sad and did not match the ending. i hope you agree.

/spoilers for this scene, i.e. things that are kinda between the lines _start here_/

Vincent does not tell her that he had already half a mind to buy a phone. Let me explain that a bit more. Maybe :Vincent knew that Tifa needed to let out some steam. (again, but then, he couldn't know that she had already had a 'talk' with Spikey)

So, gentleman that he is, he let her... telling her that he was going to buy a phone if only she had let him the chance to say so you have made her feel BAD. just remember any situations when you put your foot in your mouth; yes, that would be it. ;-) I remember mine all too well.

So to spare her, he kinda deflates the situation by accepting her tirade. i don't mean that Tifa was aiming for another 'talk' or a screaming match, but she was getting pretty nervous, which was not a help to anyone.

I first planned Reno as the one who would make Tifa realize that simple truth at the end... but then, after Rude's story, i felt that a connection was screaming to come out here. who better to accompany/guide her out of this? To get her morale back up? Reno... well, you know him and the kind of outrageous things that he would say. but that would not have solved the problem in the long term, just cheered Tifa up a bit. hence, Rude ;-)

And of course, the 'she' Tifa refers to is... /hints/ starts with an 'A'. I changed a bit the meaning here from the quote i used in 'Uncertain Heart' but it's almost the same thing, really. only i like this one better.

;-)


	15. Part 1: Lost Generation

**Disclaimer:**

We all know I don't own anything from FF7 or square-enix/soft. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo. All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud... :-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

_Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too! Wait for meeeeeeeeeee! _

* * *

**Part 1: Lost Generation.**

* * *

It had all started as a rumour in town. Worried whispers travelling around. The ex-SOLDIER stopped what he was doing and listened. 

It's happening at the central square, said one woman, I've seen them lined up around the Meteor monument.

What do they want with the kids? I've recognized some of them; hadn't seen them around lately, said another man.

And I've never seen those guys either. Who are they? They look like _Him_.

That brought a collective shiver to the group.

We've… we've got to tell them to leave. We've just started to rebuild our lives. And those kids…. Always so lively. I think I saw that little boy who lives at the Seventh Heaven too, with them. All so silent and… and immobile. What happened to them? The woman's face whitened. What did they do to them?

Should we go there…?, continued another one.

But Johnny had heard enough. Seventh Heaven- Denzel. Tifa needed to hear this; the boy was part of her family and meant a lot for her. Wordlessly, he left the bar and ran towards the main street. Once there, he burst into Tifa's closed bar and pushed past two guys whom he recognized as being Turks.

"Tifa! The central square…! You have to come, quick!"

* * *

"Someone…!P-please! Help!" 

A young woman dressed in kaki pants and grey shirt stumbled into the weapons shop at the very end of the cul-de-sac. Her breath was coming in gasps, as if she had run as fast as she could, for a very long time. Tears were streaming down her pale face, half-blinding her as she crumbled to the floor.

"Please… help… the-the kids… monsters…please!"

The old shop keeper shuffled as fast as he could to help the terrified young woman to a seat as she sobbed on the floor.

'_What…?'_

Vincent Valentine stepped out of the narrow doorway. This was a side-street of Edge, far from the central square and Seventh Heaven. But even from here, if he listened well, he could faintly hear the disturbance of hundreds of people screaming in panic. His face darkened: Kadaj.

"Monsters… never thought I'd see they day those would be loose here. Bah, never thought Midgar would fall either." The old man peered at the grey heavens and pushed up his glasses.

"Something bad's happening. That young lass's blabbering 'bout kids in a fray over there… I hope nothing bad happens to 'em poor mites. Suffered enough already, what with Geostigma and living on the streets with no one to care for 'em. Heard that that Tifa lass was trying to help, but they've been on their own almost two years now."

The children had roughed out after the war and made it out alive, making a new life on the streets of Edge for themselves; the old man understood all too well their reluctance to put themselves back in the care of grown-ups. After all, who knew when another war would happen, and the same old nightmare would happen all over again? They had already lost their family, and they certainly had no wish to lose another one. Because when once you start to care, it's too late to go back; all you can do is to hope that nothing bad would happen ever again and pray that your heart would stay whole. And hope was hard to come by these days, very hard indeed.

"Take these." The old man pushed some clips of ammo in his gloved hand. "Go help these kids, like you helped those in Midgar, young man."

"…How…?"

The old man cackled… "Ah ha ha, I remember you; you're a hero of the JENOVA war. I remember you because you helped me save my wife back in Midgar, on that day..." His eyes misted over as he looked at the red-cloaked man. "She died of Geostigma some months ago. I have never seen anything like this,mister, and I've lived a long life. Something's wrong with the planet, and it's affecting everyone. It's been two years, yet no babies have been born since; not around here, anyway. There used to be so many of them kids… and now, these may be the last left."

Vincent looked at the clips in his hand. "I…"

"…_I fight for those who live, and for those who have given their lives so that we may live. I fight because this is what I owe to this planet, to its inhabitants and to my friends. Remember what it was like, Vincent. You cannot have forgotten…"_

To remember… A meadow full of flowers… their scent carried by the warm breeze. The blue sky dotted with woolly white clouds… her eyes, her smiles, the peal of her laughter… so many… hopes and dreams for the future…

And then, darkness. So much sadness and pain…

"…_Give me back my son! I don't care about the experiment! Just let me see him once! Please!…please!…"_

Her disembodied voice rose from his fragmented memories… he didn't know when or where he had heard her utter those words. But her pain was all that he could remember. The longing, the anguish and the regrets of a mother for her only hope, her child. Sephiroth. Orphans…

His hand closed around the clips.

"I will fight."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Made major changes in 'Watashi no Tenshi'- details at the end of that document. I... suggest you re-read it; it may help later on.

This chapter is rather short-ish, as my standards go. I planned to do a chapter about the fight... but i'm asking myself if i should not skip it altogether. SQ-EX did a good job of covering all of the aspects for those intense fights, so I can't really see what i could contribute to that wonderful work. However, I might, when ACC comes out... Bah, time will tell.

So my Advent Children arc is almost complete./yay/

Also, do you remember Johnny/wink, wink/ for those of you who haven't read 'On the way', he now owns a café, much like Tifa's bar, but much less known. that's where he is when this chapter starts. Strange guy, Johnny. After all these years, he still has a mega crush on Tifa and does nothing. Could it be the same for Cloud?? If yes, wassup with those Nibelheim boys:-

on a totally different note: I used "..._Him..."_ I think it's rather clear who i am referring to here. I used the capitalisation for a couple of reasons, namely the fact that Sephiroth scared ppl shtless when word that he was the one to summon Meteor got around. /think You-Know-Who/ same difference for both.

And the movie is called 'Advent Children' . for those of you not catholic or christian and din't bother to look up the term, Advent means 'The Coming of the Saviour'... and also refers to the second coming, when that same God will be back as a judge; ok, let's not get lost in theology here. Anyway, you can make the link with Seph rather clearly, ne?

BUT, this might not only be about Sephiroth. When we speak of a God, we are also referring to a supernatural being with powers, usually benevolent. So if we push the advent definition a little more,and we get Cloud... and even AVALANCHE as a whole. because all of those kinda get a come-back.

Let me know what you think of this,.

Celeste.


	16. Part 1: Sunlight and Rain

**Disclaimer:**

We all know I don't own anything from FF7 or square-enix/soft. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo. All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud... :-p

Sorry, couldn't help that :-p

_Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too! Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!

* * *

_

**Part 1: Sunlight and rain.**

* * *

He had saved them all. 

A single ray of light burst free from the stormy sky, bright and pure, dissolving the threads of evil that had been summoned from the heavens over Midgar. She watched the legendary general's form evaporate in a flurry of jet-black feathers, leaving in its stead the slighter figure of the man Vincent had identified as being Kadaj, the leader of Sephiroth's remnant trinity. Cheers erupted all around her and a smile of pure joy and relief appeared on her lips.

"I told you he could do it!"

Sephiroth was gone… may it be forever. Who knew, now that Kadaj had gone back to the Lifestream? And Cloud… he was back among them; she felt it deep in her heart. The darkness in his heart had dissolved, much like that dark mist conjured by the silver-haired SOLDIER into the bright light of the glorious day. A warm feeling spread over her, and for the first time in many months, she felt at peace, her heart sang… he was all right now, everything was going to be all right. Cloud was back. Tifa smiled.

A light drizzle started to fall, and Cloud raised his face to the purifying water, welcoming the taste of life mixed with the warm rays of the sun. He now had an answer to the questions he had been asking himself… a new clarity of thought to guide his future. His heart, his mind, was no longer in turmoil. He was cured. Here, atop the ruins of Midgar, he felt a new life spreading in front of him. He gave in to the light of the present.

So he had made it. Thus started his path to redemption. Vincent silently wished the young man good luck on this new journey… he deserved it, him and the ones close to him. He watched the smiling brunette move to watch out of the view port again, only to look up at a beam, where a single drop of rain glistened like a diamond. He had stationed himself in a corner of the bridge, yet even with all the noise that the others were making, he could make out clearly what she said:

"You never left us, isn't it?" She smiled in bittersweet gratitude. "Thank you."

Then, she turned and continued to gaze out... She could feel her best friend so near to them right now; it was as if she had never died. She could almost hear the tinkle of her laughter and see the sparkle in her forest-green eyes. A goddess too beautiful and pure for this world, gone too soon to the Lifestream. Everyone had loved her… no one would ever forget her. Tifa sighed and breathed out a smile, relaxing in the warm embrace of sunlight and her beloved friend's presence, until she felt the weight of a silent gaze upon her.

She turned back to face the darkest corner of the bridge, from which he had not moved at all during the flight. Their gazes met and locked, her smiling one illuminated by hues of gold from the view port behind her, his steady and deep, crimson piercing through the shadows in which he stood.

Maybe she felt the presence of the dead as much as he did. Speaking to the departed… maybe they had not really gone. She seemed to believe so. Why else would she have spoken to the green-eyed girl who was now at rest in the Forest? Up to now, none of the others had said her name, as if this would have hurt them too much, as if the mere mention of her name would bring back all the pain and the sadness of her loss. But Tifa had; she had spoken to her, and told her in those few words how much they missed her and how happy they were that she was still here, watching over them, fighting alongside them.

Something had happened since the last time he had seen her at the bar. Something that had changed her outlook on events and people alike. What could it be? He had no idea, and would surely never know except if he asked her outright. And that was not likely something about to happen; it was not in his habits to delve into the private matters of others. Yet, the change in her intrigued him.

Such a strange woman, Tifa; he had thought that ever since they had met. Gentle and fierce, fragile and strong, open and shy, sad and happy. Sunlight and rain… he had watched the strange, sad and tragic love triangle play out between those three two years ago; so like and unlike his own story. Neither stories seemed to be quite over, though. Such strong feelings could never be quite erased or completely forgotten. Yes, Strife still loved the last of the Ancients, the flower girl of the slums who had been Professor Gast's daughter… and Tifa still loved her childhood friend, her hero despite and in spite of everything. He could see the proof of that love, and her love for her dead friend and rival too, in her open gaze.

Fate was a twisted, sadistic creature. Why make of those two women fast friends when they had been competing for the love of the same man? And now that one of them was gone, what was the other to do? Could she claim that man's heart as hers, or would she leave him, in respect for her lost friend?

It would seem to Vincent that she had chosen that last option. A long time had elapsed since the death of the Cetra girl, yet Tifa's relationship with Cloud was still at the status quo. They were still friends even if they had this 'family' thing going on with the orphans.

Her attitude during that chaotic, war-filled time that was the JENOVA war was not unlike the one he had chosen, when Lucrecia had married Hojo… if this was to bring that person happiness, then, they were ready to make the sacrifice. Love was caring for someone else more than you cared about yourself. Tifa loved the mercenary and the flower girl both, cared about them both, and she had faded in the background as their love had unfolded. And when tragedy had struck, she had let Cloud mourn, mourned too in that time.

Yet now, if she still missed the flower girl, she was seemingly no longer bound by her feelings, feelings of grief and guilt, love and pain. And most of all, fear. Fear to be rejected, fear to get hurt again, as she had hurt when she had stepped aside. Vincent appreciated the strength, the sheer will that had gone into that. To give unto the wishes of the other, even if his wishes were contrary to her own secret hopes… let him follow his heart, to the risk of breaking hers.

Yes, something had changed. She seemed surer of herself, stronger. An unseen weight seemed to have lifted from her shoulders or maybe she simply knew what to do now. Tifa no longer looked… mired in Cloud's uncertainty and confusion, caught up in their past. An odd little smile appeared on his lips, behind the high cowl of his cape; Strife was not the only one whose life was no longer on hold.

To see one of his rare, strange smiles, as unexpected as his participation to the fight in Edge, Tifa's heart stilled for a moment and lifted. Cloud and Vincent: whatever they claimed, whatever they acted like… they cared, and that was all that mattered.

But something was wrong; all evidence of a smile disappeared from the dark gunman's face. Tifa turned around and saw what was happening at the top of the building, even as an explosion rocked the airship.

"Cloud!" She rushed to the view port, all the blood drawn from her face, scanning anxiously for him in the fiery hell on top of the building where he had been, seconds ago. Her racing heart missed a beat and seemed to still in her chest, a dead weight, numb. A hushed silence descended on the party.

"_Please, oh please… don't take him away from me now!"_

But she could feel it in her heart; Cloud was gone…

* * *

**Author's notes:**

First of all, I have just released another story, already complete: 'In the Darkness of Creation'; it is the lost chapter of this fanfic. It has only two chapters, rather short-ish. You can read it or skip altogether.

So, back to this chapter; quite some time has passed since 'Lost Generation' ended. I skipped over all the incredible fight scenes because I don't feel I could do them any justice.

As you might have noticed, there are differences between what they say in this fanfic and what they say in the english version of the movie; that is because I am translating from the japanese and the french versions.

Why not the english one? lol, because i'm waiting for Advent Children Complete to come out to buy it in that language...

Take care,

Celeste


	17. Part 1: Friends

**Disclaimer:**

We all know I don't own anything from FF7 or square-enix/soft. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo. All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud... :-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

_Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too! Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!_

**

* * *

**

**Part 1: Friends**

* * *

_What?_ Denzel looked at Marlene. Who was she talking to? He glanced around the room; there was no one here, only them holding hands and watching the rain fall. 

"Marlene?"

"Shhh! I'm trying to listen! Can't you hear?"

His brow creased; what the…? He listened, but could not hear anything beyond the soft sound of raindrop crashing against the windowpanes.

"Marlene…?" The smaller girl did not answer him, concentrated on listening to something that only she could hear. What was wrong with her? She was not falling sick too, was she? He watched her worriedly for a moment, until they heard the door close downstairs.

* * *

It was dark inside the bar; Tifa came in last and closed the door, leaning heavily against it. The others scattered around the room: Yuffie perched on the counter, Cid and Barrett sat tiredly in a corner of the room, Nanaki padded to another with Cait Sith beside him. Typically, Vincent had chosen the darkest corner he could find and rested against the whitewashed wall. The silence reigned inside, cloying, suffocating. None would meet the others' eyes. 

Cloud was gone.

They had searched the area, from the ruined building to the smouldering debris around it, but nothing had been found. Tifa's eyes burned, but tears would not fall. They had found nothing, which meant nothing at all. He could have fallen somewhere, maybe waking up this very instant; after all, he had survived such falls in the past. She still hoped.

"Tifa! Papa! You're back!" A pink and white blur thundered down the stairs and cannonballed into her father, her slim arms clinging to him. The big man hugged her gently back. Denzel came after her hesitantly, intimidated by the strange people assembled in the room. Then, he saw Tifa and rushed to her, stopping some steps from her. Tifa leaned down and he timidly hugged her. They were back, but…

"Tifa?" His big blue eyes searched her face, asking her the question she dreaded most. _Where is Cloud?_

Tifa cupped his face in her hands. "Cloud... will come back... later."

"When? He's coming home, he promised he would!" She could feel his little body tight with tension: anger, fear, pain. He idolized Cloud. She could understand all so well how he was feeling. One more promise broken...

"I don't know, Denzel. I'm sorry. We will look for him..." Her voice was so gentle, Denzel could feel the pit of his stomach fall as his shoulders sagged. What had happened? Where was he? Her voice reminded him of that of the man who had led him away as Sector Seven had fallen, burying his parents alive. _...We have to go, kiddo. We'll look for your parents later... _Tears filled his eyes.

"Tifa! I know where Cloud will be!" All eyes turned to the little girl, seated in Barrett's lap. "She told me that he would come at her place…!"

"Who?" Her father, as usual, didn't seem to understand.

"The flower girl, of course! You've not forgotten her, have you, Papa?"

The last time she had seen the pretty girl, it had been two years ago. Marlene was six, going on seven this year. Two years was a long time for someone her age, but she had not forgotten her. Sure, she couldn't quite remember her face sometimes, but she would never forget her kindness. She was sure she was as beautiful as her voice, which had guided her in that scary forest.

"Her church."

Yuffie bounced off the counter. "What, you mean there? It's way away from the explosion, Vincent!"

"Distance matters not." The ex-Turk's cryptic remark did nothing to enlighten the teen, but it made sense to Tifa. This was where he had fallen that day they had raided the reactor. This was her place, the place she had cared for and loved for a long time, where she had felt most at peace and in touch with the Planet, the only place that still bore a trace of her existence in this world. The place where he had sought refuge when he had found out that he had Geostigma.

She nodded to Vincent. "You're right. Let's all go meet him."

Taking Denzel's hand in hers, she opened the door and stepped out. Marlene went over to Caith Sith and cuddled his soft toy body.

"Aww, you're so cute!"

"I still don' understand." Marlene giggled at her father's puzzled mein and reached out for his hand, pulling the big man out of Seventh Heaven still cuddling Caith with her other arm.

"You don't need to understand Papa. Let's just go and meet Cloud. I'm sure he will love seeing us all there when he will come back! Even you mister!"

Marlene glanced back at the red-caped figure still in the back of the bar. "Wouldn't you like to see him too?"

"Does it matter?"

"Of course!" Her brow creased. "You're friends, aren't you?" She walked away with her father, the case closed in her mind.

"Hey come on Vincent! You're part of the team, you've gotta come and give this bleeping welcoming party for the boss too. Don't you dare go slippin off like last time and leave us with Spikey again!"

Vincent's gaze shifted to Cid, his eternal cigarette hanging between his grinning lips. Yuffie started her antics, jumping up and down like a live spring. "Yeah, Vincent! You've gotta come!"

"Come on Vincent." Tifa had heard the whole scene from outside the bar. She was now back in the doorway, with Denzel beside her. "You can't say no to so many ladies." She winked at him and smiled.

Vincent considered her words for a moment before replying as mournfully as ever. "It seems that I don't have a choice in this then." He shook his head ruefully.

"Nope. None at all!" Yuffie jumped to grab his hand. But somehow, he had already smoothly and wisely moved out of the door. The young woman stamped her foot in annoyance.

"You're no fun!"

"Aw, who cares Yuffie. The dude's coming, so lay off him, would ya?" Cid patted her on the head and followed Vincent's lead out of the door. Yuffie made a face at him. "Huh, you don't understand at all, you moron!"

"Of course I do." Cid grinned at her. "You don't want to lay _off_ him at all."

"You…! You-! Arrrghhh!" Yuffie's face turned as red as a mountain monkey's backside, bordering on an apoplexic purple. She screamed her outrage with an interesting combination of well-chosen words at his retreating back, arms wind milling until she finally noticed that she was the only one left in the bar.

"He-Heeeey! Wait for me! There can't be a welcoming party without Yuffie, what are you guys thinking of! Wait! I said, WAIT!"

* * *

**Author's notes:**

I have posted more data about this fanfic on my profile and I have put up some links to fanart and wallpapers i have made for it. check them out! note: if you wish to download/vote, you have to be registered to myotaku. it's free, so don't hesitate to! Remember that vote/reviews/comments are what make my little muse feel better!

This chapter is slightly different from most I have written to date. More chatter, less drabble, to diffuse the tension from the previous chapter. This is one of those group moments in ff7 that i like ;-)

So one chapter and one epilogue for Part One to go! Next chapter will take some time too, being given that i'm half-buried underneath a load of work. :-(

Celeste


	18. Part 1: The Quiet place

**Disclaimer:**

We all know I don't own anything from FF7 or square-enix/soft. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo. All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud... :-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

_Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too! Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!_

**

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**

Part 1: The quiet place

* * *

Mako rose from the clear pool of water, encircling the children standing in it. The pale green particles, glowing with a cerulean tint, brushed against their skins, playing with their hair and guiding their hands in front of them. Filaments of the spirit energy formed then followed the children's arms to the tips of their fingers, where they pooled; slowly, a shape began to appear amidst the Mako brightness.

It was that of a man, reclining in repose over the water, like an angel brought from heaven to the real world by the innocent hearts of those children, an answer to their plea. The figure glowed brightly for a moment, blinding those gathered at the edges of the pool, and suddenly, the insubstantial form became reality.

"…_Cloud…"_

He opened his eyes to a familiar sight: for a moment, he could not quite place it, nor recall where he was. No matter. He felt so good right now, so at peace… weightless. Everything was a hazy, comfortable blank in his mind, as in one of those dreams filled with the warmth and contentment of sun-filled days from which no one wants to wake up, ever. For a moment, he let himself be cradled by the fading sounds of dear, familiar voices, whispering to him as he floated upon warm waters. Here, he was free… but free from what?

That was when he began to feel; he first felt the cool water lapping at this skin. Then, he felt the hands on him, slim and light, fragile and somewhat protective too. Where was he? He was… floating? He looked up, rising from his reclining state into a standing one. He saw the ring of children as his feet hit something solid: the floor.

As he looked around, he knew why it had all seemed so familiar to him; he had spend many nights here, looking at the stars through the ruined ceiling, thinking of the past and of his failures.

He was in her church.

A girl from the group of children that encircled him spoke up solemnly.

"She said to wait here and Cloud will come back."

'_What?'_ He suddenly remembered the explosion. The feeling of weightlessness as he had seemed to hover in an immensity of light. Peace.

'_She…? Is that why I fell here, again? Because she guided me?'_ And then something else hit him; how could those children have known it?

But he didn't have time do follow this question through.

"Welcome back," said Tifa.

She was so happy… Cloud was here, he was all right. Watching him reappear was something that she would never forget. Joy had flooded her heart, yet she had not been able express it; she had wanted to jump in the water, run to him but something had held her back. Always, there was something to hold her back. Maybe if she tried hard enough, it would go away… yes, it would. She was sure of it.

Cloud turned around and he saw them. His friends. All of them were here, from Tifa to the taciturn gunman. Most of them were smiling at him. A welcoming committee? An emotion he had not felt in a long time touched his heart and settled in it, warming him. Joy, and something else that he couldn't quite define.

"I'm back."

His voice was as solemn as Vincent's. That didn't matter to Tifa. That was the way Cloud had been as a child, always so solemn, so serious. Instead of alarming her, it made her feel safe; the man before her was the Cloud of Strife of Nibelheim, the boy whom she knew to have come to her rescue time and again, first in the mountains when they had been kids, then later on in the reactor and so many times afterwards during the war. All she could do was smile, and look at him, surrounded by children.

"There are still children with the stigma."

Nanaki's voice broke the spell that seemed to have bound Cloud and Tifa. The latter suddenly remembered that she was not the only one to have waited for Cloud; Denzel, who was almost hidden behind her, still feeling so uncomfortable in the midst of so many strange grown-ups. She hoped that he come out of it after some time spent with all of them. She moved aside and bent down; gently wrapping her arm around his frail shoulders, she watched as Cloud nodded.

"Yeah." A soft smile appeared on his lips. This was something he could do. The water… it was the Great Gospel. It was her gift. It was like her, for it not only healed physical wounds and illnesses, it healed the wounds inside too. As it had healed him, it would heal this child and all of those who still waited to be freed from the malicious illness born from JENOVA. He slowly came forward, towards his family.

"Hey. Let's get you fixed up." Tifa squeezed Denzel's shoulders as the latter nodded shyly. Her heart melted. He reminded her of Cloud as a child, in so many ways it hurt. Silently, she sent a prayer to Heaven.

'_Goddess help me. I want his life and Marlene's to be good lives. Happy lives, even though they are bereft of their real parents. Help me protect them from all the fear and suffering this world has to offer. Help me protect my family… help me and Cloud both.' _

Cloud was now right in front of them. Tifa didn't know what he was thinking… but she could see that he was himself again. More confident, more optimistic. Stronger.

"Come on. I'm here." The blond swordsman stretched out his hand to Denzel and patiently waited for the latter to come to him.

"It's ok." Tifa encouraged Denzel who looked even shier as he nodded, his brown locks almost hiding his eyes from view. Then, he stepped in Cloud's waiting arms. The young man effortlessly lifted up the small body and slowly let him down in the centre of the pool. The boy shivered as his skin came in contact with the cool water but he didn't say anything; instead, he was thinking…. Could this water really heal him? He had had one bad experience with water already… but this was Cloud; he could trust him. So he stayed quiet and watched the man he had waited for so long to come home silently and deliberately cup the water in his hands, and pour it over his head.

For a moment, nothing happened; all he could feel was the wetness of his hair and the coldness of the droplets of water as they dribbled onto his skin. And then, something amazing happened… his forehead was tingling… and suddenly, the weight that had been pressing him down for so many weeks was gone; his heart no longer hurt, his pain… it was gone!

His fingers found none of the roughness of the Geostigma on his skin; it just encountered normal skin, albeit still a bit sensitive. And his reflection in the water… the scar was no longer here! That ugly, purplish bruise which had been a sign of sure death… It was really gone! He looked up and turned to the ones who had held him during his illness, told him not to give up, told him that one day, he would be OK. He looked towards Tifa and Marlene and laughed out, joy and amazement in that short vocal expression.

He was cured! His laugh was like signal that everyone was waiting for; cheers erupted from the assembly and many dropped into the water, eager to be cured too. Eager to live. The previously indolent crowd was almost in a state of euphoria now. Children played in the water, laughing and calling to each other as the adults cheered them on, smiling and crying at the same time.

And in the midst of all that, his gaze came back to her. Their protégé, their child, was no longer in danger. She smiled at him, that sweet smile that had won so many hearts in Nibelheim, including his, so many years back. The smile that always spelled hope and promised brighter days. His deepened… and her smile changed. Tifa just felt the locks and binds that had stopped her before, she felt them slip away.

"… _Don't try. Just do…"_

'_Thank you, Rude.'_

She had been the one to hold herself back. Always, it had been her fears, her uncertainty. She had fought with imaginary shackles in which she had imprisoned her heart all that time, a safety net that had in fact stifled her and frozen her in place when it came to express her innermost, most private feelings. Now that she knew, there was nothing to hold her back. As the last of her chains fell away, everything seemed to come to a standstill. Her eyes grew soft and her features quiet as she opened her heart to him, finally. But words would be useless here; instead, she put all of her feelings for him in her eyes, the windows of her soul, and in her smile, the voice of her true heart. '_I love you.'_

For a moment in eternity, they held each other's smile, hers as gentle as the first snowflakes of winter, as warm as the first rays of spring, his open and happy, true… he suddenly broke away, shyness overcoming him. He felt a bit stupid; this was the kind of smile that would have meant the world to him ten years back… and still did now. But this was too new for him. So many emotions, so many good ones, he didn't know how to handle it all; he didn't think he had ever felt this happy ever before. So, he looked away, but his heart was singing…

A smile lingered on his lips as he watched the children jumping, playing, and splashing about around him. He had once thought long ago children to be a bloody nuisance, stupid, even when he had been one himself; he had not realized until this very moment that it was their refreshing innocence, their love of life, that he had envied. Their freedom, their spirit. His childhood had been miserable, as he had walled himself off from the others, mired in his feelings of inferiority.

Maybe he could help these children get through the rough spots of their lives; yeah, that would be something that he would like to do. He now understood Tifa's actions as she helped all the orphans that she could. She was younger than he was, but was wiser, kinder. One day, he would make it up to her, for being there for him and for pounding his head in place when it needed to, but most of all for putting up with him.

Tentatively, he touched the small hands stretched out towards the sky. One day…

He turned around, drinking in the sights, the sounds, and the joy around him. And that was when he saw them.

For a moment, he thought there was something wrong with his eyes. She was talking to two crouching kids, behind AVALANCHE. And further down, near the door, was the indistinct figure of a man in a navy SOLDIER uniform. Could it be…? But most of his attention was on the woman in pink, as she straightened up and walked away, seemingly ignorant of his incredulous eyes on her, watching.

For all he could do was watch. It hurt to see her… but she was gone. He had wished time and again, two years ago, that there were some way to bring her back. But the weapon used against her had been JENOVA cells, in the form of the legendary Masamune. It had infected her system, killing her instantly, her half-Cetra ancestry lending her a susceptibility to those alien cells that most purebloods, either human or Cetra, did not have. There was no way to raise the dead, to bring them back to the world of the living. And even if it were possible, what would be the penalty to be paid for such an act against nature?

And so, he watched her go, remaining as still as a statue in the middle of playing children, lost to the world around him but for the girl whom he had loved and who had loved him in return despite his failings. Later on, when the others would ask him the reason why he had become so still, he would only smile and shake his head. Only to Tifa would he tell the truth, because he knew that she was the only one who would fully understand him.

The fading figure stopped some feet from the door and slowly turned around. Cloud felt his heartbeat speed up and then still as he saw her for what could be the very last time. She was just as he remembered her: the brilliant green eyes, soft brown curls, perfect pale skin, gentle pink lips stretched in an easy smile. Her voice came to him as clear as if she was standing right next to him

"You see… everything's all right." And with a last smile, the young woman who would forever be twenty-two turned away and left, disappearing in the brilliant light of the sun. The other figure smiled his signature lop-sided smile, lifting his gloved hand in a casual farewell before following her outside.

"…_Everything's all right…" _

Somehow, she had always known what to say to him. Now, he knew that she was all right, and happy. Even if her death had been painful to all of them, her dearest wish had been to protect the Planet, and her death had actually allowed her to fulfill that wish. For he knew, without a doubt, that she was the one to have awakened the Planet, urged it to take matters in its own hands and save them all in an unprecedented outwards flow of the subterranean Lifestream to destroy Meteor.

Tifa, Marlene, Denzel, Barrett, Nanaki, Reeve, Cid, Yuffie and Vincent – they were a team and would always be there to help each other out. All that one needed to do was accept the help that is offered by a friendly hand. Yeah, everything was all right.

And that peace that he could only find in dreams… he felt it in his heart then. He watched until both figures had disappeared in the bright light… he silently said goodbye to Zack, and to Aerith.

"I know. I'm not alone."

A new smile appeared on his lips, stronger, for it didn't have its source in anything else but in the people around him, his friends in life and in death, those who cared for him and who meant a lot a him. He would live in the present, for them and not for memories that should be left to rest after having given so much. No, he was not alone.

"Not anymore."

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**Author's notes:**

Next chapter will be the epilogue! I hope i can release it before Xmas... I am currently studying for my finals, so wish me luck!

I hope you liked this chapter. I tried to put everything that I feel everytime I watch this scene in the movie. And I love the music too... /hums/ I don't know about you, but I feel a bit nostalgic and i get teary-eyed when I think that this arc is almost over. A bit like a mom who's watching her baby leave home for university or to get married. All grown up already... when did that happen? When i read all of the chapters... :-p stop snickering and just give me the tissues, will ya?

The title of this chapter is also that of a song by In Flames. If you're not in rock and even less in metal, forget it. If the contrary is true, then you SHOULD listen to it, it's awesome! It has absolutely nothing to do with this scene in particular, but i liked the feel of the title...

Oh, and i should be posting some Xmas surprises on myotaku! I'll tell you when, ok? ;-)

Celeste


	19. Part 1: Epilogue: Towa no Mirai

**Disclaimer:**

We all know I don't own anything from FF7 or square-enix/soft. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo. All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud... :-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

_Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too! Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!_

_

* * *

_

**Part 1: Epilogue -Towa no Mirai**

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"Hey." 

"Cloud!" She had not heard him come inside. Indeed, she had not been expecting him back before the end of the week. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing at all…"

"You're back earlier than I expected."

"Um… yeah. I got some phone calls." The young man combed his fingers through his hair as he usually did when he was nervous. "Say, Tifa, how about we go on a picnic? Just the kids and us? I know a meadow near Kalm that would be OK."

Tifa laughed out in surprise. "That's wonderful! What a great idea, Cloud! Thank you!"

The young man blushed at her enthusiastic response.

"You have to thank Vincent… and Yuffie… and Cid and Barrett, Nanaki and Reeve. They reminded me that it was a long time since we've done anything together… as a family."

Tifa laughed.

"It doesn't matter who said what. Just give me some time to get ready and we'll be on our way! The kids are gonna love that, you know?"

"Yeah."

"Marlene will be so happy, as will be Denzel. They missed you."

Cloud's face darkened and his voice wavered. "I am sorry…"

"Oh no, you're not going to do this again, are you?" Tifa smiled at the surprise and puzzlement showing plainly on his face. Some things just never changed…

"Do what?"

"Stop blaming yourself so much. We all have a lot to get used to before we get a proper routine. None of us blames you for forgetting us sometimes while you're busy delivering important parcels to people who might otherwise never have received them."

He cocked his head to one side, thoughtful. "Is this how you see my job?"

She nodded and pushed back a stray lock from her eyes. "Yeah. What you're doing is important. You're helping people stay in touch with those they are far from. Without someone like you, who knows when they might have received that little something from a loved one which says how much that person cares for them? Marlene and Denzel know that and they respect you for it."

"Thank you, Tifa."

He had never considered his job in that light. He had always seen himself as just a delivery boy. In fact, what she said shamed him because he knew, deep down, that another reason for his new choice of career was the fact that delivering parcels all over the world meant that he was also away most of the time. Away from her. Away from his family. Away from the ones who could make him forget the past. And here she was, making of him a hero when all he had been was a coward. Perhaps still was, since he was still doing that job.

She continued to smile as widely and turned to go the children's room. She was at the foot of the stairs when he called her name.

"Tifa."

She looked at him, waiting for him to go on.

"I… memories are important, but not as important as what is happening now."

Slowly, she came back to him, resting her hand lightly against his left arm; it no longer bore the stigmas, but Cloud had decided to have the sleeve sewn back on. Else, he had jokingly said, they would look like they were wearing some sort of uniform.

Well, she had replied, we both work for the Strife Delivery Services and Seventh Heaven is it not?

He had merely smiled. Trust me Tifa, you don't want to wear a uniform for any length of time. Plus, I couldn't stand to wear one anymore…

And so it had been decided; the sleeve, which he had adopted to hide the stigmas, had become an integral part of his wardrobe. Beneath her hand, she felt the rough weave of the fabric, and the warm lifeblood pulsating through his veins.

Cloud had missed five years of his life. In short, he had had to step from adolescence to manhood in the blink of an eye when he had awakened near Midgar. Slowly, he was catching up on those lost years by travelling the world alone. He was rediscovering himself, forging who he would be in the future, thanks to Aerith.

"That is what defeated Sephiroth in the end, isn't it?"

He stared at her, speechless.

"You found your light again, didn't you?"

It hurt to say that, but it had to be said. In the past, too many things had been left unspoken and look where it had led them. Loneliness. Pain. Estrangement from each other. Tifa was determined not to let history repeat itself if she could help it.

"I had found a note on your desk, when you were gone. It was for a delivery. The client was Elmyra. She wanted you to… deliver a bouquet to the Ajit…"

"Oh." Cloud's gaze shifted to the floor as he sat down on one of the stools at the bar. Tifa followed suit on the stool next to his. That reminded him of that night when he had first stepped in the original Seventh Heaven. It seemed so long ago now, almost like another life. How strange. Time flowed in quite bizarre ways sometimes. But fuzzy as the rest of his memory might be, that night was one he would never forget. Tifa and him had sat down at the bar after the opening hours, talking about all the things they had missed out on after years of separation. Of course, then, his memories of his past had been altered. Maybe it was the time to do it right, this time round. Let the past flow unbound between them.

The Ajit. It had been the first time he had been there after Aerith's death. He had gone tthere and stayed at the side of the lake for long minutes before delivering the bouquet. At the time, the first visible signs of Geostigma had already appeared on his arm and started to spread. He had seen Elmyra's request as a sign, so he had waited there for something, anything. He had tried to reach out to Aerith, called out to her from his heart. But nothing had happened and he had returned to Edge… There, he had waited for a sign from her in the church, night after night after night, whenever he was in the city.

"I went there to find an answer."

"Which you found."

"No... That is why I stayed in the church. I was waiting for an answer, for a miracle. In the end… I was just there. I don't think I was really waiting for anything else than death."

"Cloud…" Once again, her hand rested lightly against his. He clenched his fist.

"I remember thinking that when I die, you and the kids would… be alone. So I never returned. Pretty lame excuse for a coward, isn't it?"

"No, you're not!" Tifa's hand tightened on his gloved one. "You didn't want us to worry, isn't it? I can understand that. But where you went wrong was thinking that your absence would not worry us as much as the stigmas. We are a family, Cloud. Whatever affects you affects us too. Also, we're here to help each other out. Together, we can do it!"

He risked a peek at her determined face through his hair. She really seemed to believe what she was saying. That brought a small smile to his lips and he nodded.

"Yeah... Tifa? I am sorry for all of this. I guess I was just…" He searched for the words for a moment before remembering something Vincent had once told him. "…wallowing in self-pity. I did not see what I was doing to all of you. I am sorry."

Tifa removed her hand from his and leaned back against the bar, facing the windows. Light filtered in through them, the bright sunshine of a beautiful late spring day, spreading splashes of mellow warmth on the seats and the wooden flooring.

"You know what?"

"What?"

"I absolve you of everything you think needs to be absolved if you get us out of here before it gets any later." He was about to say something when she hushed him with a shake of her head. "And if you think that you owe us anything, you don't. Cloud, you're allowed mistakes. This is perfectly normal, because we're humans, after all. And if we learn from our mistakes, we eventually grow wiser and better from them. Someone who has never made a mistake is not great; just ignorant and probably shallow, in fact."

"You've never made a mistake," he pointed out cautiously.

"Oh, I did," she replied quietly. "Lots. Think about Sector Seven. Think about the first reactor we sabotaged. All of those who have died because of AVALANCHE on those days. I keep thinking of the reason why I joined in the first place. But I try to learn from them. Not just to pay back for the wrongs that I have done, but also to be a better person for those around me. Vincent... everything he does is to atone for his sins; everyone needs to atone for his wrongs, but one cannot let it dictate the rest of one's life. That is when growing up comes in; to move beyond atonement by letting go of one's guilt, forgive oneself for being a mistake-making human, and moving on to be a better one."

"I've never seen it that way…"

She shrugged. "Well, me neither. But it seems that the more we talk, the more things start to make sense, isn't it? Perhaps we should talk more often."

"Yeah, we should."

"Perfect! That's settled. I'll go get the children ready now."

Cloud watched the young woman saunter away; she was right. Absolution or redemption, acceptance of one's failings, moving on; it was all about growing up. He had been so fixated on what had happened before; he had neglected to see what was right in front of him and what was to be. He had learned something precious from this last battle with Sephiroth, something that had come into better focus in the church, when he had come back.

Everything was important, but most important of all was those around you who care for you. They are the key to the future, and the hope they see in you, you can also see it in them. Each human being holds it within himself, the inextinguishable flame of hope that can carry you through the worst life can deal. Together, they could make it.

'…_Yeah, I've found my light. I promise never to lose sight of it now. Thank you. All of you…'_

He looked out of the window.

The peaceful, boundless blue sky opened up to an unseen horizon, far beyond the city of humans.

Cloud didn't know what tomorrow was made up of, but he was, for the first time in his life, eager to discover it.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

This is the first part of the epilogue... else, it would have been too long! The second part of the epilogue will be a surprise... or not. ;-)

If you've played Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, you must have noticed the references to it here and there. Also, if you're a Rurouni Kenshin (a.k.a. Samurai X in the U.S.) you know what the title means. If you don't, wait for the next installment of the epilogue!

Your light... never lose sight of it.

Celeste.


	20. Part 1: Epilogue: Eternal Future

**Disclaimer:**

We all know I don't own anything from FF7 or square-enix/soft. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo. All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud... :-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

_Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too! Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!_

_

* * *

_

**Part 1: Epilogue - Eternal future.**

* * *

Time flowed in quite bizarre ways sometimes. 

Especially here. How long had it been? She didn't know, but it seemed that it was not that long. A couple of years, perhaps? Marlene had grown up into quite a cute little girl; of course, the fact that she now wore her ribbon scored bonus points. It seemed to her that it had only been a few weeks since she'd come here, at best.

"Still thinking?"

Aerith sighed and turned to face her ex. Well, technically speaking, they had never broken up, but he had died. Wait, she had died too, so did that mean they were back together again? Aerith decided that no, too much time had passed for her still to feel that they were a couple. And it had been just a date, after all…

"Aww, and here I thought you still liked me!"

"Zack, would you mind not reading my thoughts? I like my privacy you know?"

He laughed. Or at least, she felt waves of mirth coming from him. Despite the fact that they still retained the form they had when they were alive, they were still spirits and spirits did not makes sounds. Instead, they communicated through emitting emotions and thoughts through the Lifestream. It was quite convenient, since it always assured her that someone would come and talk to her when she wanted to, but as she came to learn, it also meant that what would have been her innermost thoughts up there were public knowledge here. Or as in Zack's case, public gossip.

"Hey, don't be angry. I just caught on those waves you were dishing out, that's all."

"Oh, was I? I'm sorry…" She played with her insubstantial curls, waves of embarrassment rolling from her. Zack's face softened. That had always been her way, her heart so open, so ready to see good, so innocent and guileless –well, maybe not that guileless- that it was not hard to see why she had so much difficulty in keeping up the barriers that would have isolated her thoughts from what she wanted to come across to others.

"That's all right… If you promise to go out with me again."

"Zack!"

"What's wrong with trying my luck again? You're the prettiest girl around after all and I'm the most good-looking guy. I say we make a match of it!"

"Zack…" Her tone held a note of warning. Was there also an undercurrent of amusement? He decided that yeah; she could not have changed that much after all. Either way, he would be really surprised if she said yes. He knew that she had fallen in love with Cloud; he didn't resent his old buddy for that. It was only fair that they'd both tried to find some love and happiness together. Life had to go on, after all. What he wished for was that Cloud could see that. Maybe with Tifa's help, he would. Yeah, with her help, he would come to see that life was for living and not mourning forever. Zack had always liked Tifa; if there was anyone who could drag his stubborn, confused, uptight buddy to reason, it was her. Plus, she deserved some happiness too, after the way both him and Cloud had failed her…

Aerith sent him a puzzled look. Why was he thinking of Tifa now?

"Anyway, what are you doing here? I though you were going to go back to sleep."

He grinned, his lop-sided, cocky grin that had always, for an obscure reason, had a strange effect on her, midway between irritation and embarrassment and attraction.

"I couldn't leave a damsel in distress."

She cocked an eyebrow. "Of course."

"Of course!" He acted hurt, his eyes wide with the sting of her doubt. If he remembered right, puppy eyes worked well with her… "Why else would I still be here? I'm dead tired, you know. I don't know about you, but going up there has drained the hell out of me."

Aerith looked closely at him. True enough, his form looked more transparent than usual, while hers was still as strong as if she was still alive. And he had been awake for only a short time… she had called to him to help her contact Cloud when she had felt the corruption Kadaj was threading in the lake of the Ajit. One day, Zack, as strong as he was, would go back to the Lifestream… while she might still very well stay stuck in this place after everyone had come to join them, maybe until the end of time. She had heard her mother's guiding thoughts about fifteen years after her death; who knew how long the Planet would require her to stay in this form?

It had revealed to her that she would go back to join the cycle of life when her mission to protect it had been accomplished; she had thought that it would be over when Meteor had been stopped, and Sephiroth too, but no. She had lingered in that lightless world, drifting here and there, meeting those whom she had known and who had died, and collecting information from the ever-flowing source of the Lifestream.

Zack's thoughts floated on to her, breaking her reverie. "Maybe there is something else to be done."

"What would that be?"

He seemed to withdraw into himself for a moment, and Aerith waited. It was often like that with the ghosts of humans; sometimes, it took some time for them to get their thoughts organized into a coherent flow. She had long decided that her Cetra heritage gave her a certain ease in communicating this way, perhaps because her mother had trained her from beyond the grave in listening and speaking that way. Go straight to the heart of the matter. Cut to the essential. Forget the distracting murmur of other flows.

After some time, he spoke up.

"Since I've been here, I've slept quite a bit to preserve my strength. But I've also met some of my old friends, and some people I used to know in Shin-Ra. That was a bit less… pleasant."

Aerith grimaced. She too had met the former President Shinra, that most unpleasant, egocentric, greedy little clothes horse.

"But there are people missing."

"Maybe they have already gone back to the Planet," she ventured.

"No. They were very strong people, so it stands to reason that they would have lingered around like you and I. Plus, even if they had gone back, they would have left something of themselves down here that I would have recognized. That has been bugging me for quite a while now."

Aerith was suddenly very afraid. "Zack… who were they?"

He held her gaze for a moment before breaking away. "Unpleasant people. Dangerous people. And if I can't find them here…"

Her whisper continued where he had left off. "… then they're still alive."

Silence reigned between them. Aerith was listening to the Planet, trying to find a whisper of anything that would ease the dread in her heart. What she learnt instead horrified her. How could this have escaped her notice?

"Zack… what can we do?"

He shook his head ruefully. "I don't know. I guess it's all up to Cloud and the others now. We cannot rise again like we did to push back Meteor, for this threat has little to do with magic."

She regretfully agreed. They could not attack that threat, not directly. But what could they do…?

"Zack!"

He regretfully shook his head. "To appear to them, we need a strong surge of life-energy. Plus, they have to be listening to us and be within hearing range, like Cloud was when we said goodbye."

"We can always use the church, speak to those who are still here; I know that many children still like to play there. The flow of Mako has only increased since the last time we were there, so it should be pretty easy to contact them."

He shook his head. "It has increased only to heal the breach we created to let your cure for Geostigma through. Soon, the little flow that allowed you to hear your mother and grow flowers there will be closed off and your Great Gospel will stop curing the sick and the wounded. And those people are of the patient kind; they will not attack until their final weapon is about ripe."

"Oh…" Aerith clenched her fists. There had to be another way to warn them!

"What we need is a portal…or a messenger."

"Someone half-way here…."

"…But still there?"

They looked at each other in silence as it dawned upon them. They had found an answer. That plan was their only hope. If this estranged soul agreed, all might not be lost…

Before going back to sleep to get some of his spent energy back, he smiled to her. She didn't know it, but she was a unique girl. She'd died, but she still lived on in the hearts of others. Maybe that, more than her lineage, was what allowed her to go on in a place where one's thoughts, one's being, one's essence could be scattered all over the place in a moment, never to be whole again. He was fading, but she was like one of the goddesses of old: immortal, all knowing, and forever alive through the power of her heart. He went back to the shadows, drawing who he was tight into himself so as to retain most of who he had been ,when he woke up next to lend a helping hand again.

Once again, Aerith was alone. She listened, kept on listening, sifting through all kinds of things to find what she needed to know. But sometimes, that disturbing whisper would echo back to her, penetrate her soul and settle there like a cold hand upon her throat. She shivered.

Coming from somewhere far off, Aerith heard once again the screams, the moans of the dying, of the dead… fear, anguish, anger, sorrow, so much sorrow. A new battle was about to begin for the destiny of this sad, terrible Planet.

Once again, the past was about to become the key to preserving the eternal future.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Many of you have guessed it, Towa no Mirai means Eternal or Everlasting future. Look for the lyrics, the artist is Yellow Monkey

The previous chapter was something I thought about only later on, after I had started to work on this part of the epilogue. Towa no Mirai is in a sense more of a conclusion than Eternal future. It ties up loose ends, throws some light on other stuff. If you're wondering where the idea for a picnic comes from, it's from a scene (ok, not a scene, more like bonus Voice over) in the special Collector's DVD of AC. I think.

Eternal future takes place in the Lifestream. I based this chapter on elements from "The Maiden...", like the flow of time, the ability to communicate through thoughts and emotions, etc.And yeah, she did meet Prezzy Shinra, but he got sucked when Sephiroth started to gather energy... Good riddance!

Lord Makura, now we know what cured Denzel, Cloud and all the others. In fact, there was an undercurrent of Lifestream running under the church. That current is what allowed the flowers to grow, and that is also why we can see Aerith's ghost there in the game. Aerith and Zack forced the Lifestream through the breach Kadaj made when he struck. She used the opportunity to use her final limit break, Great Gospel. Haven't you ever wondered how Cloud managed to beat the crap out of the two brothers? Well, if you remember, Great Gospel revives, cures, _and makes you invincible for quite some time_. It started to wear off during the fight with Sephiroth.

Many times throughout the fanfic, I had wanted to post a chapter with Aerith and Zack, if only to say that they still exist within the Lifestream. Aerith, because I find it strange that she only seemed to manifest after the dark baptism episode, Zack because i think he's one of the least understood characters of the game. I hope CC will put things right. In the meantime, I hope to do a Past Imperfect chapter just for him, as a tribute, in one of the following arcs. Plus, he's cute :-)

So, what is your verdict of this arc? how did you like it? What would you have included more in it? or less?

I just feel relieved that I have been able to say all that I wanted to, clear up some misunderstandings and moot points. I no longer feel like my head is going to burst like a ripe mango now! Hooray!

On the other hand, I am now burning to get on with the next arc... lots of delicious things to tell... XD... like who that tormented soul is...

See you soon!

Celeste


	21. Part 2: Prologue: Dark Heaven

**Disclaimer:**

We all know I don't own anything from FF7 or square-enix/soft. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo. All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud... :-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

_Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too! Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!_

* * *

**Part 2: Prologue – Dark Heaven**

* * *

_Walk through the fearsome fog,_

_Wanderer, lost soul,_

_Hear!_

_The stricken, voiceless screams,_

_Shattered echoes faint in the darkest heaven_

_Of mists and shadows,_

_All the same._

_Awake!_

_Ever to arise from the shards of tattered dreams_

_Dark Heaven lingers behind fluttering eyelids:_

_A taste of eternity,_

_Bitter and beautiful,_

_Sweet and terrible,_

_Sad, sad love floating_

_In the Darkness of Creation._

* * *

It was a world of night. 

Yet no star shone in it. No breeze stirred the water's surface; no moon gazed at her pale face in that dark mirror. However, ripples occasionally did mar that smooth surface of obsidian shadows turned liquid, like a ghostly hand playing on the invisible chords of an ancient harp.

Silence enfolded everything, from the soundless trickle of water falling from above, to the quiet murmur of ageless stone growing older with each passing second.

It was a world of night and nothing in it was free. Water, contained within the bowl of rocky shores, trapped and dying. Air, caught in a place where nothing needed it to survive and nothing enriched it by going back to the Planet. Sounds, muffled with the weight of the eras, mired and fading in the darkness within.

Death hovered over everything. Yet, here she was.

In the night, she shone like a beacon of peace, testimony to the most ardent of feelings, her coruscating form resting in the heart of the rarest of nature's children: a column of pure Mako, grown from within the bowels of the planet, deep in the darkness of creation, rising from a lake of cold untainted water.

Pure, so beautiful, as exquisitely ethereal as one of Heaven's angels, hands joined on her breast in prayer. A beautiful dreamer surrounded by light in a world of dark, her long lashes cast delicate shadows upon the soft perfection of her cheeks. Her long hair, bound with a yellow ribbon into a high ponytail, timidly exhibit her delicately shaped ears and the crystal earrings she loved to wear, while her bangs framed her face, encasing its painful loveliness in an auburn cascade.

His burning red irises gaze upon her, drinking their fill of the divine form before him. A goddess forever beyond the reach of a sinner such as he, Vincent Valentine, a dark form ghostly pale in the phantasmagorical lighting of the cave.

"Again… We meet again. Lucrecia…"

The softly spoken words echo around the cave, and for a moment, it seemed as if the immobile figure encased in Mako was speaking too, a fragile whisper from beyond the walls of death.

_… I am sorry…_

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

So begins the second arc of this story... with a poem.

For those of you with a fictionpress account, I have posted the poem above on my account. It's shorter than most of my other attempts at poetry, but this is something I wrote a year ago, way before I started to think about writing this fanfic. And way before DoC came to be... I stumbled on it yesterday night, scribbled on a tiny piece of paper when I was cleaning around the house, stuffed between two OC character artworks.

Coincidence?

Who knows. Still, here it is. Tell me what you think of it, and if you're interested in this kind of poetry, follow the link to my fictionpress account on my profile. Angst poetry , like dying, is something that I do exceptionnally well.

Second thing on the agenda, I am going away for a couple of weeks; so this could be my last post this year. A prologue for a new beginning...

Merry Christmas, and happy new year,

Celeste.


	22. Part 2: Angels don't lie

**Disclaimer:**

We all know I don't own anything from FF7 or square-enix/soft. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo. All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud... :-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

_Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too! Wait for meeeeeeeeeee! _

**

* * *

**

Part 2: Angels don't lie.

* * *

It had been a mistake.

He should not have given in. He had so far avoided any contact with AVALANCHE, shunning their various invitations to visit them in their respective homes. For one year, he had not seen any of his one-time companions.

But that didn't mean that he had not heard from them.

Vincent glanced briefly at the screen of his cell phone. Reeve Tuesti's message was cryptic at best; yet, there was an odd feeling of urgency to it. He was intrigued: what did Reeve have to tell him that required a face-to-face meeting?

Especially since the latter's time was precious and limited: the World Restoration Organization he headed was expanding exponentially and needed his full attention. The W.R.O. had started out with a single mission: building new homes, a new town to shelter those left homeless by Meteor.

New homes meant food, electricity, water, and gas. Individual businesses could not meet the demand, and the W.R.O. was soon asked to step in to consolidate those separate start-ups into one conglomerate under its control, finally absorbing it into its own structure. However, as demand grew, they had to devise new ways to bring in the raw materials to maintain and increase production.

From there, the projects had started to build up and W.R.O. had branched into transport infrastructure by building new roads and motorways, flyovers as well as bridges, even implementing a ferry between the continents. Those roads, and specially the ferry, were welcomed by all, for they gave the people a freedom of movement they had lacked in the past. They could now migrate to other towns more easily, visit more of the world.

But the downside of all this freedom had showed up one year ago with the mass kidnapping of the children by the three silver haired brothers: those roads also made it possible for truants and smugglers to operate with impunity from settlement to settlement all over the world. Therefore, and unsurprisingly, the W.R.O. had taken upon itself to regulate passage from one continent to the other after that disaster; it was not enough to give the people liberty of movement, it claimed. They also had to be protected.

The commissioner's solution was to implement volunteer patrols on the main roads between the towns and intersections throughout the world and one could safely say that everything snowballed from there. A poll soon showed that the public felt safer with armed patrols. Indeed, statistics proved that there was less trouble on those roads guarded by armed volunteers. And soon enough, the first groups of civilian volunteers were replaced with trained soldiers.

Hence was born the armed branch of the W.R.O.

From building to security and power supply, the W.R.O. had become structurally like the now defunct Shin-Ra Inc. providing everything the people needed. Was it really a surprise, with the ex-Shin-Ra Head of Urban Development directing everything?

Yet, in so far as Vincent knew, there was no board of Directors, as with the Shin-Ra company, which meant that every major and final decision rested on Tuesti's shoulders. He didn't envy the man; his job as Commissioner was more than full-time and demanded more than any man could give: business savvy, diplomacy, decision-making, analysis, budgeting, planning… it was amazing that he was still sane. Vincent could not see how the man could have time to come to Kalm for the Revival Festival. And if this move was just a Public Relation, stunt, there were no PR points to gain to meet up with him. No one knew who he was, and most regarded him with something akin to fear and suspicion. Many were those who were uneasy in his presence. Which brought Vincent back to his initial question:

What did Reeve want from him?

…_Redemption…_

The voice that haunted him spoke those words, as softly as the first winter snowflake landing on the palm of his hand. Somewhere deep inside him, something throbbed painfully, clenching in sadness and grief. Vincent didn't think he had a heart anymore; it had been broken beyond repair, and he was less than human now; it could not be put back again.

However, he could still remember cherished memories, remember what it was like to feel with his heart, his soul. Remember his love for her. He alone remembered her now… he alone remembered her soft voice and exquisite beauty. He summoned from days past images of her in Nibelheim, at the spring equinox, laughing. Full of life and passion, open but oddly distant with him at times. Why Lucrecia, why?

"_You say you are sorry; but I am the one who is at fault. I am the one who should be saying those words."_

And then, as fugitively as it had come, her presence disappeared.

"_Redemption. Cloud, Barrett and Cid believe in it and try to find it, each in their own way. Maybe even Tifa, although she doesn't have much to blame herself for in the first place. As for Reeve… Hmm. He was Shin-Ra. Sins… was really the only way to the top."_

In fact, Vincent didn't doubt for a second that Reeve Tuesti had had to dirty his hands more than once to get to be Head of his department. Genius, talent and hard work were not enough to get far up the corporate ladder. Maybe W.R.O. and all those sacrifices… were his way to redeem himself. Vincent had never met the man; passing judgement under those circumstances would be foolish.

In any case, their meeting was scheduled in about one hour. He would have the opportunity to test his theory then. Sins. Redemption. Vincent closed his eyes. Everything seemed to revolve around those two concepts. Two nebulous concepts born from humanity's need to provide a moral code; intangible things, and yet both could weight so heavily on one's shoulders, like all the weight of the world.

He knew. He knew so well how sins could crush one under its terrible heaviness, shackling one forever to one's dark past. And redemption… was just a dream. A dream that added mass to the load, for it promised sweet deliverance from sins.

A soft breeze laden with a flowery scent drifted through the open window by the bed. Most of AVALANCHE associated flowers to Aerith, but Vincent knew otherwise. Flowers, for him, would always bring Lucrecia to his mind. His only love… she came to him in the most unexpected moments. She had led him to her real resting place: the cave where he had met her again after thirty years apart, that time with Cloud and the others, but far, far in its dark depths. There, he had sat for days on end, watching her, watching over her, dreaming and wishing…

Part of his mind had scoffed at his decision for it was totally unreasonable and smacked of calf-love. Yet he had been unable to tear himself away from her, that angel in white, lying in repose like a fairy-tale princess of old, until he had received Reeve's message.

…_We need to discuss certain matters…_

This message had brought him here, in a place where people rejoiced and made merry, socialized with each other, sang and danced and celebrated, when all he wanted was to be alone, far away from everything, with her. In her presence, his sins… didn't matter so much. They were still there, real, but she seemed to assuage the pain he felt inside, the weight of the past, his bone-deep fatigue. Like a soothing hand upon a feverish brow, she made him forget all of his trials, every nightmare, every dream lost. She was there, they were together, and that was all that mattered.

Yes, coming here had been a mistake; he had taken refuge in that hotel room, and he was now alone with his thoughts, his memories, those terrible children of his past. Without her, there was nothing to stop him from falling headlong in the abyss, nothing to make him forget that redemption was not for the likes of him.

"_Even you know that I am beyond redemption. My sins are too great, eternity will not be enough for me to redeem them; I cannot be forgiven."_

Outside, fireworks tore the inky sky, streaming down to the planet… tears cried by Heaven itself.

* * *

**Author's notes:**

I am sincerely sorry for the long wait... Many things happened at the same time and I'm still busy with them right now. In fact, they don't look like they'll be settled any time soon, but i'll be optimistic and say that one mre week should do it.

Anyway, I have created another story, which will contain much less drabble than in here (well, I hope that you think so too). It's still ff7 fanfic and it's title is : **'Pillars of Destiny'**. One word of advice: read the author's notes in the first chapter! there a surprise... ;-)

So back to this chapter; very drabblish yet again, but Vincent is this kind of individual. I am one of those too... if i sit too long without anything to do except watch the ceiling or the stars or anything else... I start thinking, and thinking of certain things... makes me cry. not sob, or wail, or pound anything in anger. Just soundless tears. I don't know if this happens to many of you... but it is this kind of blue feeling that I have tried to recapture here.

Did I succeed? I hope so. It's up to you to tell me...


End file.
